If you use Office 365, Skype, OneDrive, Xbox Live, Outlook.com, or a Windows Phone, you already have a Microsoft account. (Microsoft account credentials are also used by many non-Microsoft products and websites.) If you don’t already have a Microsoft account, you can register any existing account as a Microsoft account, sign up for a free Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account and register that as a Microsoft account, or create an alias for an Outlook.com account and register the alias.
TIP Many apps and websites authenticate transactions by using Microsoft
account credentials. For that reason, it’s a good idea to register a personal account that you control, rather than a business account that your employer controls, as your Microsoft account. That way, you won’t risk losing access if you leave the company.
Two ways you can personalize the appearance of your PowerPoint app window are by choosing an Office background and an Office theme. (These are specific to Office and aren’t in any way associated with the Windows theme or desktop background.) The background is a subtle design that appears in the title bar of the app window. There are 14 backgrounds to choose from, or you can choose to not have a background.
At the time of this writing, there are three Office themes:
■ Colorful Displays the title bar and ribbon tabs in the color specific to the app,
and the ribbon commands, status bar, and Backstage view in light gray
■ Dark Gray Displays the title bar and ribbon tabs in dark gray, and the ribbon
commands, status bar, and Backstage view in light gray
■ White Displays the title bar, ribbon tabs, and ribbon commands in white, and
the status bar in the app-specific color
There are rumors that another theme will be released in the near future, but it hasn’t yet made an appearance.
TIP The images in this book depict the No Background option to avoid interfering with the display of any user interface elements, and the Colorful theme.
From the Connected Services area of the page, you can connect Office to Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube accounts to access pictures and videos; to SharePoint sites and OneDrive storage locations; and to LinkedIn and Twitter accounts to share presenta- tions. You must already have an account with one of these services to connect Office to it.
Until you connect to storage locations, they aren’t available to you from within Power Point. For example, when inserting a picture onto a slide, you will have the option to insert a locally stored picture or to search online for a picture. After you connect to your Facebook, SharePoint, and OneDrive accounts, you can also insert pictures stored in those locations.
The changes that you make on the Account page apply to all the Office apps installed on all the computers associated with your account. For example, changing the Office background in PowerPoint on one computer also changes it in Outlook on any other computer on which you’ve associated Office with the same account.
Some of the settings on the Account page are also available in the PowerPoint Options dialog box, which you open from the Backstage view. This dialog box also contains hundreds of options for controlling the way PowerPoint works. Chapter 11, “Work in PowerPoint more efficiently,” provides in-depth coverage of these options. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the dialog box content so you know what you can modify.
1
To display your Office account settings
1. With PowerPoint running, click the File tab to display the Backstage view. 2. In the left pane of the Backstage view, click Account.
To manage your Microsoft account settings
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. In the User Information area, click any of the links to begin the selected process.
To change the app window background for all Office apps
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. In the Office Background list, point to any background to display a live preview in the app window, and then click the background you want.
To change the app window color scheme for all Office apps
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. In the Office Theme list, click Colorful, Dark Gray, or White.
To connect to a cloud storage location or social media service
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. At the bottom of the Connected Services area, click Add a service, click the type of service you want to add, and then click the specific service.
To manage your Office 365 subscription
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. In the Product Information area, click the Manage Account button to display the sign-in page for your Office 365 management interface.
3. Provide your account credentials and sign in to access your options.
To manage Office updates
1. Display the Account page of the Backstage view.
2. Click the Update Options button, and then click the action you want to take.
You can install available updates from the Backstage view before the automatic installation occurs
To open the PowerPoint Options dialog box
1. In the left pane of the Backstage view, click Options.