How to Play Audio Automatically in PowerPoint

PowerPoint presentations appear more professional when audio files play automatically. PowerPoint provides tools to enable automatic playback of audio during a presentation. This article will look at how to automatically play audio in PowerPoint web and versions 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Set audio to play automatically in PowerPoint slides

You can set the audio to start as soon as a slide is opened or set a delay timer for the audio to play. Both features can be applied when you have an audio file in your presentation.

First, Insert an audio file into your presentation, then follow these steps:

1. Select the audio icon on the slide and go to the Playback tab.

   

2. Go to the “Audio Options” section and select the Start: dropdown arrow. Then click Automatically.

   

3. If you want the audio file to play on every slide in your presentation, click the checkbox Play Across Slides. If you want the audio to play as background music, select Loop until Stopped.

   

   Note: Loop until Stopped plays the audio repeatedly during the presentation. If the Play Across Slides option is also selected, you cannot stop or pause the audio during the presentation. The audio will automatically stop playing when the slide show ends.

4. Click the Slide Show tab and select From Beginning.

   

   Audio will now play automatically once the slide opens.

How to automatically play audio on PowerPoint with a time delay

If you want the audio to delay by a few seconds when the slide opens, follow the steps below:

1. Select the audio icon on the slide. Then, click the Animations Tab.

   

2. Next to Delay, increase the animation delay by pressing the up arrow. Set the number of seconds you want the audio file to delay when you start the presentation.

   

   Start the presentation to preview the timing delay effect on the audio.