Recording Audio Files on Mac to later insert into a PowerPoint
Recording Audio Files ‘outside’ of PowerPoint allows us to save the audio files and then insert them at a later date. If the PowerPoint gets corrupted or saved as the wrong version, the audio files will still exist and can be added to a new PowerPoint file.
How to record audio files on a Mac – using QuickTime
I was using an older Mac (it cannot be updated past version 10.13.6 – High Sierra), but from what I have read online, QuickTime should be on the newer versions of Mac as well. Search for QuickTime in the Applications or by using the search function magnifying glass icon from the top right hand menu bar.
To start a recording, open QuickTime, click File – New Audio Recording
A recording box pops up. Click the Red circle in the middle of the recording screen to start your recording.
Press the Black square in the middle of recording screen to stop your recording.
To save the recording click File – Save…
Type in a name for your recording (do not make it very long), eg Death7_slide02, Death7_slide32, etc. I am using part of the course name or lecture name, the week (number 7) and the slide the recording is for (slide02, slide32). Naming is important for importing into the slides later in PowerPoint.
Click the arrow beside the file name to expand options and choose a location/folder to save the audio file.
Click Save after the desired location has been selected.
Inserting Audio into a PowerPoint file
When you open or create a PowerPoint file, make sure it is saved as a PowerPoint Presentation .pptx. If it is saved as an older version with extension .ppt, it will not allow audio files to be saved with it and we will lose the audio recordings (it allows us to insert files, but not save them when we close the file).
If opening an existing file, you should be able to see the file extension to the file when you click File – Open. Browse to the list of files and make sure it has .pptx as an extension.
If the file extensions are not showing, click on PowerPoint at the top of the screen, click Preferences.
Select General
Place a checkmark beside Show file extensions close the window then search for your file to open.
Look for the file you would like to open and you should see the file extensions along with the file name.
If the file you started working on has the extension .ppt instead of .pptx, open the file with the extension .ppt, then re-save it with the new extension. Click File – Save As…
Select the location to save it (preference is a folder on OneDrive which is useful for enabling AutoSave), confirm the File Format is PowerPoint Presentation (.pptx) and click Save. Close the file then open the newly saved file with the extension .pptx. You are now ready to continue editing the PowerPoint file.
Next steps, check to see if AutoSave is on or off, we want it enabled so changes are Automatically saved every 10 minutes. This also activates the option to Browse Version History. (AutoSave can be activated on each Microsoft product in the same way – Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
This is what it looks like when AutoSave is OFF in PowerPoint
Click the button beside the word OFF to enable AutoSave, you may be asked where you want to save your file to, if so, select OneDrive and the location you want the file saved. If your file is already in OneDrive, this may not pop-up.
After AutoSave is turned on, you will see that the Browse Version History option is activated AND you will see beside the word AutoSave, the option is ON
These are a few steps to help prevent losing audio recordings when a PowerPoint file gets corrupt.
Add previously recorded audio file to the PowerPoint file
To insert an audio file that was previously recorded and saved with QuickTime (or another program), open your PowerPoint file. Click Insert – go to the audio icon and select Audio from File…
Select the Audio file from the location you saved it and click Insert towards the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
An audio icon will show on the PowerPoint along with the recording.
Close the PowerPoint file after inserting a few audio files. Open the file again and confirm the files you inserted are still embedded in the PowerPoint slides and that you can still play them. Continue inserting audio files.