Microsoft is Removing 'Reuse Slides' from PowerPoint. Here's What to Use Instead.

The Feature You Didn't Know You'd Miss

If you've ever grabbed a slide from an old deck—your proven market sizing, that approach slide clients love, the competitive matrix that closed deals—you probably used PowerPoint's "Reuse Slides" feature.

It wasn't flashy. Most people didn't even know its name. But it was essential.

Microsoft is killing it in January 2026.

According to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, message MC1179161 confirms: "Starting in January 2026, Microsoft will retire the Reuse Slides feature from PowerPoint for Windows and Mac desktops."

Microsoft's suggested alternatives? Copy-paste. Open a second window.

If you're a consultant, banker, or strategy professional who builds 50+ decks a year, that's not a solution. That's a step backwards.

Why Consultants Relied on Reuse Slides

The workflow was simple:

1. Open new deck
2. Insert → Reuse Slides
3. Browse to your archive
4. Pull in the slides that worked

No reformatting. No rebuilding. The market sizing slide you perfected last quarter? Pull it in. The approach slide your partner approved? Pull it in.

For professionals who iterate constantly—where 60% of every new deck is proven content—this feature saved hours per week.

Microsoft's "Alternative" Doesn't Work

Microsoft's recommendation: "Copy-paste slides between windows."

Here's the problem:

• You can't search. With 200 old decks, finding the right slide takes forever.
• You lose context. Which version was the good one? Which client was this for?
• No organization. Your slide archive is scattered across folders, SharePoints, and email attachments.

Copy-paste works when you're pulling from one deck. It doesn't work when your best slides are scattered across three years of client work.

SlideVault: What "Reuse Slides" Should Have Been

We built SlideVault before we knew Microsoft was killing their feature. But now the timing is perfect.

SlideVault is a searchable slide library—the workflow Microsoft is abandoning, rebuilt for how consultants actually work.

How It Works

1. Save any slide to your personal library with one click
2. Tag by topic, client, or content type (market sizing, competitive, approach, etc.)
3. Search your library when building a new deck
4. Pull proven slides directly into your current presentation

The slide you perfected last quarter? Tagged and searchable. The approach slide that won the pitch? Ready to pull in 2 seconds.

What's Different from Reuse Slides

PowerPoint Reuse Slides:

• Browse files manually
• No organization
• Just you
• Retiring January 2026

SlideVault:

• Search by topic/tag
• Tagged and categorized
• Team libraries for shared best practices
• Built for the long term

The Bigger Picture: Why Just "Reuse" Isn't Enough

Here's what Microsoft got wrong: reusing slides is only half the problem.

The other half is iteration.

When you're building a board deck, you don't just need to pull in old slides. You need to:

• Generate new slides fast
• Iterate 10 times before the meeting
• Keep the good slides, regenerate the bad ones
• Maintain your brand and formatting throughout

That's why SlideVault is part of Penomic's Deck Architect—not a standalone feature.

The Full Workflow

1. Generate a first draft in 2 minutes
2. Pull in proven slides from SlideVault
3. Iterate slide-by-slide (keep what works, regenerate what doesn't)
4. Save your best new slides back to SlideVault
5. Download a polished deck in your brand

First draft in 2 minutes. Tenth revision in 30. Your best slides accumulate over time.

Migration Timeline

Now through December 2025:

• PowerPoint Reuse Slides still works
• Start saving your best slides to SlideVault
• Build your searchable library before the cutoff

January 2026:

• Microsoft removes Reuse Slides
• Your SlideVault library is ready
• No disruption to your workflow

For Teams: Shared SlideVault

If you're part of a firm, SlideVault gets better:

• Team libraries for shared best practices
• Firm-approved slides that everyone can access
• Consistent quality across all team members' decks
• No more "send me that slide" emails

Your firm's best work, organized and accessible to everyone who needs it.

The Bottom Line

Microsoft removing "Reuse Slides" is an inconvenience for casual users.

For consultants who live in PowerPoint—who build 50, 100, 200 decks a year—it's a workflow crisis.

SlideVault fixes it. Not with copy-paste workarounds, but with a searchable, tagged, team-enabled slide library built for how professionals actually work.