Open and Use the Selection Pane

To open the Selection Pane in PowerPoint, follow these steps: 

1. Open PowerPoint and navigate to the slide where you want to access the Selection Pane. 

2. Click on the "Home" tab in the PowerPoint ribbon. 

3. In the "Editing" section of the ribbon, you will find a button labeled "Select." Click on the small 

arrow located at the bottom right corner of this button. This will open a drop-down menu. 

4. From the drop-down menu, select "Selection Pane." Alternatively, you can press the keyboard 

shortcut "Alt + F10" to open the Selection Pane. 

Once the Selection Pane is open, you will see a list of all the objects on the current slide, as well as their 

corresponding names. The Selection Pane allows you to manage the objects' visibility, order, and more. 

Here's a review of the parts of the Selection Pane: 

1. Objects List: This list displays all the objects on the slide in a hierarchical order. The objects at 

the top of the list are in the front, while the ones at the bottom are at the back. 

2. Eye Icons: Each object in the Objects List has an eye icon next to it. Clicking on the eye icon 

toggles the visibility of that object. If the eye is visible (open), the object is visible on the slide. If 

the eye is hidden (closed), the object is not visible on the slide. 

3. Name: Each object in the Objects List has a name associated with it. By default, PowerPoint 

assigns generic names like "Rectangle 1" or "Text Box 2" to the objects. You can rename objects 

by double-clicking on their names in the Objects List and typing a new name. 

4. Reordering Objects: You can change the order of objects by clicking and dragging them up or 

down in the Objects List. The order of objects in the list determines their stacking order on the 

slide. 

5. Show/Hide Buttons: At the top of the Selection Pane, you'll find two buttons. The "Show All" 

button (eye icon) allows you to make all objects visible on the slide. The "Hide All" button (eye 

with a line through it) hides all objects on the slide. 

The Selection Pane in PowerPoint is indeed similar to working with layers in image editing software. 

Objects listed higher in the Selection Pane are layered in front of the objects listed lower. By rearranging 

the order in the Objects List, you can control the layering of objects on the slide, just like managing 

layers in image editing.