Inserting ActiveX Controls

An ActiveX control is a software component that adds functionality to an existing program. An ActiveX control is really just another term for an OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) object, known as a Component Object Model (COM) object. An ActiveX control supports a customizable, programmatic interface. PowerPoint includes several pre-built ActiveX controls (New!) on the Developer tab, including a label, text box, command button, image, scroll bar, check box, option button, combo box, list box, toggle button, and more controls. To create an ActiveX control, click the control you want in the Developer tab, and then drag to insert it with the size you want. If there is a problem with an ActiveX control, PowerPoint disables it to protect the program and your data. When a problem does occur, a security alert dialog box appears, displaying information about the problem and options you can choose to leave it disabled or enable it.

Insert ActiveX Controls

Click the Developer tab.

Click the button with the ActiveX control you want to use.

See the next page for a list and description of each ActiveX control.

Display the slide where you want to place the ActiveX control.

Drag (pointer changes to a plus sign) to draw the ActiveX control the size you want.

To resize the control, drag a resize handle (circles) to the size you want.

Deal with an ActiveX Control Security Alert

Click the Office button, and then click Open.

Click the File as type list arrow, and then click the presentation type that contains the Active X control.

If the file is located in another folder, click the Look in list arrow, and then navigate to the file.

Click the presentation with the ActiveX control you want to open, and then click Open.

Click Options in the Security Warning.

If you trust the presentation content, click the Enable external content option to open it. If you don't trust it, click the Help protect me from unknown content option to block and disable the macros.

Click OK.

See Also

See "Setting ActiveX Security Options" on page 353 for more information about setting options that trigger the ActiveX security alert.