How to stop PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop 

When you present a slideshow via your laptop, it extends the display automatically to provide you with the best experience. However, if you want to stop PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on a laptop, here is how you can do that. It is possible to make this change with the help of the in-built Settings, Local Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor.

Stop PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop

To stop PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on a Windows laptop, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer.
2. Click on File > Options.
3. Switch to the Advanced tab.
4. Find the Automatically extend display when presenting on a laptop or tablet option.
5. Remove the tick from the checkbox.
6. Click the OK button.

To learn more about these steps, continue reading.

First, you need to open Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer. If it is opened, click on the File in the top menu bar and select Options visible in the bottom-left corner.

Then, switch to the Advanced tab in the PowerPoint Options panel and find out the Automatically extend display when presenting on a laptop or tablet option.

By default, it must be ticked. You need to remove the tick from the corresponding checkbox and click the OK button.

Note: If you want to use the GPEDIT method, you need to download and install the administrative template for Office.

Prevent PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop using Group Policy

To stop PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop using Group Policy, follow these steps:

1. Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
2. Type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.
3. Navigate to Advanced in User Configuration.
4. Double-click on the Do not allow PowerPoint to automatically extend the display when presenting on a laptop or tablet setting.
5. Choose the Enabled option.
6. Click the OK button.
7. Restart the PowerPoint app.

Let’s check out more about these steps.

First, you need to open the Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. For that, press Win+R to display the Run prompt, type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.

Once it is opened on your PC, navigate to the following path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 > PowerPoint Options > Advanced

Here you can find a setting named Do not allow PowerPoint to automatically extend the display when presenting on a laptop or tablet. You need to double-click on it and select the Enabled option.

Once done, click the OK button to save the change and restart the PowerPoint.

However, if you want to extend the display when presenting on a laptop, you need to double-click on the same setting and choose the Not Configured option.

Prevent PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop using Registry

To prevent PowerPoint from extending display when presenting on laptop using Registry, follow these steps:

1. Search for registry editor in the Taskbar search box.
2. Click on the individual search result.
3. Click the Yes button.
4. Navigate to powerpoint in HKCU.
5. Right-click on powerpoint > New > Keyand name it as options.
6. Right-click on options > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
7. Set the name as disablesettopology.
8. Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1.
9. Click the OK button and restart your computer.

Let’s delve into the aforementioned steps in detail.

To get started, you need to open the Registry Editor first. To do that, search for regedit in the Taskbar search box, click on the individual search result and click the Yes button in the UAC prompt.

After opening Registry Editor, you need to navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\16.0\powerpoint

However, you may not always find the Microsoft\office\16.0\powerpoint in HKCU. In that case, you need to create them manually. To do that, right-click on Microsoft > New > Key and name it as office. Then, repeat the same steps to create other sub-keys.

Once done, right-click on powerpoint > New > Key and set the name as options.

Following that, right-click on options > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it disablesettopology.

Double-click on it to set the Value data as 1 and click the OK button.

Finally, restart your computer to get the change.

How do I extend my screen when presenting?

If you want to extend your screen when presenting, you need to turn on a setting in Microsoft PowerPoint. Open the PowerPoint, click on File and select Options. Then, switch to the Advanced tab and tick the Automatically extend display when presenting on a laptop or tablet checkbox. Finally, click the OK button to save the change.

Do not allow PowerPoint to automatically extend display when presenting on a laptop or tablet?

There are multiple methods to block PowerPoint from automatically extending display when presenting on a laptop or tablet. You can follow any of the aforementioned guides to get the job done. For example, you can open the Do not allow PowerPoint to automatically extend the display when presenting on a laptop or tablet setting in the Local Group Policy Editor and select the Enabled option.

That’s all! Hope this guide helped.

Read: How to hide the Audio icon in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.