How to Loop a PowerPoint Slide Show Continuously for Kiosks

You have a PowerPoint presentation that needs to run unattended at a kiosk, trade show booth, or information screen. The goal is for the slides to advance automatically and restart from the beginning once the last slide ends. PowerPoint includes a dedicated kiosk mode that enables this looping behavior and locks out manual keyboard or mouse input. This article explains how to configure the Set Up Show dialog and the Transitions tab so your presentation runs in an endless loop without any user interaction.

Understanding Kiosk Mode and Continuous Looping in PowerPoint

PowerPoint offers two ways to run a presentation in a loop. The first method uses the kiosk mode setting, which is designed for unattended operation. When you select Browsed at a kiosk (full screen) in the Set Up Show dialog, the presentation runs full screen, loops automatically after the last slide, and disables all keyboard shortcuts except Escape. This prevents viewers from accidentally advancing slides or exiting the show.

The second method uses the Loop continuously until Esc option. This also loops the presentation but does not lock out mouse clicks or keyboard input. Use this option if you want the show to loop but still allow a presenter or user to interact with it.

Both methods require you to set slide timings. Without timings, the slides will not advance automatically. You can set a uniform duration for all slides or assign different timings to individual slides. The timing is configured on the Transitions tab under the Advance Slide section.

Steps to Set Up a Continuously Looping Kiosk Presentation

Follow these steps to configure your presentation for an unattended kiosk. The process is the same in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, PowerPoint 2021, PowerPoint 2019, and PowerPoint 2016 on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Step 1: Set Slide Timings

1. Open the Transitions tab
   Click the Transitions tab on the ribbon. This tab controls how slides appear and how long they stay on screen.
2. Select all slides in the thumbnail pane
   Click the first slide thumbnail in the left pane, then press Ctrl + A to select every slide. If you want different timings for different slides, select them individually later.
3. Uncheck On Mouse Click
   In the Timing group, uncheck the On Mouse Click checkbox. This prevents a mouse click from advancing the slide prematurely.
4. Check After and enter a duration
   Check the After checkbox and type the number of seconds you want each slide to display. For example, type 5 for five seconds. If you selected all slides, every slide gets this same timing.
5. Apply different timings to individual slides
   To set a different timing for a specific slide, click that slide in the thumbnail pane, then change the After value. Repeat for each slide that needs a unique duration.

Step 2: Configure the Show Type for Kiosk Mode

1. Open the Set Up Show dialog
   Click the Slide Show tab on the ribbon, then click Set Up Slide Show in the Start Slide Show group. The Set Up Show dialog opens.
2. Select Browsed at a kiosk (full screen)
   Under Show type, choose the option Browsed at a kiosk (full screen). This radio button is the third option in the list. When selected, the Loop continuously until Esc checkbox becomes unavailable because kiosk mode always loops.
3. Set Show options
   Under Show options, you can leave the default selections. If your presentation uses narration or animations, check the corresponding boxes. The Use timings, if present option must be checked for the slide timings to work.
4. Choose which slides to show
   Under Show slides, select All unless you want to loop only a subset. For a custom range, select From and enter the starting and ending slide numbers.
5. Click OK
   Click OK to close the dialog and save the settings.

Step 3: Start the Slide Show

1. Begin the presentation
   Click the Slide Show tab, then click From Beginning in the Start Slide Show group. Alternatively, press F5 on your keyboard.
2. Verify looping behavior
   Let the presentation run through all slides. After the last slide, the show should restart from slide 1 automatically. No mouse click or keyboard press should advance the slides.
3. Exit the kiosk show
   To stop the presentation, press the Escape key on the keyboard. Kiosk mode disables all other keyboard shortcuts, so Escape is the only exit method.

Alternative Method: Loop Continuously With Manual Interaction

If you want the presentation to loop but still allow a viewer to click through slides manually, use the Loop continuously until Esc option instead of kiosk mode.

1. Open the Set Up Show dialog
   Click Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show.
2. Select Presented by a speaker (full screen)
   Choose this radio button to keep mouse and keyboard input active.
3. Check Loop continuously until Esc
   Under Show options, check the Loop continuously until Esc checkbox.
4. Set slide timings
   Follow the same timing steps from the previous section. If you want slides to advance only on mouse click, uncheck After and check On Mouse Click.
5. Click OK and start the show
   Click OK, then press F5 to start. The presentation loops but responds to clicks and keyboard input.

Common Issues When Setting Up a Looping Presentation

Slides do not advance automatically

The most frequent cause is missing slide timings. Open the Transitions tab, select all slides, and verify that the After checkbox is checked and a number is entered. Also confirm that the Use timings, if present option is checked in the Set Up Show dialog. If you previously set timings but the slides still do not move, check that On Mouse Click is unchecked.

Presentation stops after the last slide instead of looping

This happens when the Loop continuously until Esc checkbox is unchecked and kiosk mode is not selected. Open the Set Up Show dialog and either select Browsed at a kiosk (full screen) or check Loop continuously until Esc. Do not select both because kiosk mode automatically enables looping.

Viewers can skip slides or exit the show in kiosk mode

If mouse clicks advance slides in kiosk mode, the slide timings are not set correctly. Go to the Transitions tab, select all slides, uncheck On Mouse Click, and set a timing under After. In kiosk mode, all keyboard keys except Escape are disabled, so a mouse click should not advance the slide if timings are configured properly.

Hyperlinks and action buttons do not work in kiosk mode

Kiosk mode disables all navigation except Escape. If your presentation contains hyperlinks that link to other slides or external content, they will not function. To use hyperlinks, switch to Presented by a speaker (full screen) with the Loop continuously until Esc option checked.

Item	Kiosk Mode (Browsed at a kiosk)	Loop Continuously Until Esc
Description	Full-screen unattended loop with all navigation disabled	Loop that still allows mouse and keyboard input
Slide timings required	Yes	Yes, if auto-advance is desired
Mouse click advances slides	No	Yes
Keyboard shortcuts active	Only Escape	All shortcuts active
Hyperlinks work	No	Yes

After configuring the show type and timings, test the presentation in the actual kiosk environment. Confirm that the display resolution matches the presentation aspect ratio and that the computer will not go to sleep or show a screen saver. Use Windows 11 power settings to keep the display on and disable sleep when the presentation is running. For long-term kiosk deployments, save the presentation as a PowerPoint Show file with the .ppsx extension so it opens directly in slide show mode.