Once you've inserted shapes, text boxes, SmartArt graphics, images, or other objects, you can open the Selection Pane to keep track of them all.
You can launch the Selection pane from the Select item on the Home tab of the ribbon, or by pressing ALT+F10.
Tip:In Excel this is the Find & Select button.
The most recently inserted object is at the top of the list.
If two or more objects overlap then those objects are listed in visual stacking order—top-to-bottom. If you bring an object to the front it will jump to the top of the list. If you send it to the back it will drop to the bottom of the list.
Change the order of the objects
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Select one or more items in the list. (Use Ctrl+Click to multi-select).
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Drag the selection upward or downward, or click the up (Bring Forward) or down (Send Backward) arrow
.
.Note:For an object that's in a group, you can only reorder it within the group.
Group objects
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In the pane, use Ctrl+Click to select the items you want to group.
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On the ... Format tab at the right end of the ribbon, select Group > Group (or Arrange > Group > Group).
After grouping the objects, you can format them or move or them on the canvas as a single entity. For more information, see Group or ungroup shapes, pictures, or other objects.
You can select multiple objects within a group and the groups within it, but you can't select objects within groups together with objects not in groups.
Hide objects
Hiding an object keeps it in the file, but makes it invisible. This feature should be used with caution, because it can be easy to entirely forget about a hidden object.
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In the pane, select an item in the list.
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On the right side of the item, click the "open eye" button.
. This action hides the object.To make the object visible again, just click the "closed eye" button
.
. This action hides the object.
.To see an object that's under another object, you can hide the object on top temporarily, make the changes you want, and then show the object on top again.
Tips
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In Word, inline objects are listed in the Selection Pane, but you can't reorder them, hide them, or multi-select them.
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After you select an item in the Selection pane, you can click again to change the name of the item. In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, this ability comes in handy for using the Morph transition. See Morph tips and tricks for details.
Keyboard shortcuts
You can use these keyboard shortcuts in the Selection pane:
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the Selection pane | Alt+F10 |
| Move the keyboard focus through the major regions until it is in the Selection Pane | F6 |
| Navigate by keyboard through the buttons in the pane and then into the list | Tab |
| Move the focus among the items in the list | Up arrow, down arrow |
| Select an item in the list | Enter or spacebar |
| Edit the name of the item in the list that has focus | F2 |
| Add/remove the item from the selection (that is, multi-select) | Shift+Enter or Shift+spacebar |
| Toggle the visibility of the item that has focus | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Send the selected items backward | Ctrl+Shift+B |
| Bring the selected items forward | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Collapse the current group | Left arrow |
| Expand the current group | Right arrow |
| Collapse all groups | Alt+Shift+1 |
| Expand all groups | Alt+Shift+9 |
Once you've inserted shapes, text boxes, SmartArt graphics, images, or other objects, you can open the Selection pane to manage them all.
Note:This feature is available in newer versions of Microsoft 365 for Mac. It isn't available in Office for Mac 2011.
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Select one of the objects you want to manage.
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Select the ... Format tab that appears on at the right end of the ribbon when you select the object, and then choose Selection Pane (or Arrange > Selection Pane).
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The Selection Pane opens with all your objects listed, and you can do any of the following:
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Drag an item up or down in the list to change the order. In the example below from PowerPoint, moving the curved connector to the top of the list also brought it forward in front of the two oval shapes (and everything else on the slide).
In the example pictured, the connector is at the bottom of the list, and is behind the two oval shapes.
After the connector is moved to the top of the list, it appears in front of the two oval shapes.
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Choose to show or hide objects from the Selection Pane. To hide an object, click the eye icon in the Selection Pane indicating that the object is Showing
. The icon will change to a simple icon indicating that the object is Hidden from view. To show the object once again, simply click the Hidden icon , and the object will reappear.(Video) Working With Layers in PowerPoint - How to use the Selection Pane The connector in the example above is hidden, and does not appear on the slide.
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Group or ungroup objects listed in the Selection Pane. If you select multiple objects by using ⌘ + Click, you can then group them or ungroup them by selecting Group Objects on the ribbon in the Format tab.
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. The icon will change to a simple icon indicating that the object is Hidden 
from view. To show the object once again, simply click the Hidden icon 
InPowerPoint for the webyou can use the Selection pane to show or hide items on the slide or to reorder them. To open the Selection Pane select the Arrange button on the Home tab of the ribbon and then Selection Pane.
The objects are listed in the pane invisual stacking order—top-to-bottom. The most recently inserted object is at the top of the list.
Change the order of the objects
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Select one or more items in the list (useCtrl+Click to select multiple items).
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Drag the selected item up or down, or click the up (Bring Forward) or down (Send Backward) arrows.
(Video) Reorder objects in PowerPoint 2013 with the Selection pane
Note:If an object is in a group, you can only reorder it within the group.
Show or hide Objects
To hide or show an individual object on your slide, open the Selection Pane and select the show/hide button next to the object you want to hide, or show.
To edit an object that's under another object, hide the object on top temporarily, make the changes you want, and then show the object on top again.
Group objects
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Use Ctrl+Click to select the items you want to group.
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On the Hometab, select Arrange> Group.
After grouping the objects, you can format them or move or them on the canvas as a single entity. For more information, see Group or ungroup shapes, pictures, or other objects.
Note:You can select multiple objects within a group, but you can't select objects within groups together with objects not in groups.
Tips
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Double-click an item to rename it. In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, this ability comes in handy for using the Morph transition. SeeMorph transition: Tips and tricksfor details.
(Video) Using the Selection Pane in Microsoft PowerPoint -
By default, the most recently inserted object is at the top of the list in theSelection Pane, and the first object inserted is at the bottom of the list.
Keyboard shortcuts
You can use these keyboard shortcuts in the Selection pane:
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Move the keyboard focus through the major regions until it's in the Selection Pane | Ctrl+F6 |
| Navigate by keyboard through the buttons in the pane and then into the list | Tab |
| Move the focus among the items in the list | Up arrow, down arrow |
| Select an item in the list | Enter or spacebar |
| Edit the name of the item in the list that has focus | F2 |
| Add or remove the item from the selection (multi-select) | Ctrl+Enter |
| Toggle the visibility of the item that has focus | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Send the selected items backward | Ctrl+Shift+B |
| Bring the selected items forward | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Collapse the current group | Left arrow |
| Expand the current group | Right arrow |
| Collapse all groups | Alt+Shift+1 |