Updated by Tina Sieber on March 1, 2017.
Great presentations combine polished design with practical functionality. As someone who's crafted countless PowerPoint decks for professional settings, I've found that displaying the current date and time adds a professional touch—especially when paired with printed handouts.
One detail that enhances viewer experience is adding the date and time to your slides. It's straightforward and elevates your slideshow. For more tips, check out 9 PowerPoint Mistakes to Avoid for Perfect Presentations or 10 Tips for Making Better PowerPoint Presentations with Office 2016.
Let's get started without delay.
Open your PowerPoint presentation and switch to the View tab on the ribbon. Select Normal view, then choose the first slide.
Next, go to the Insert tab and click the Date & Time icon in the Text group. This opens options for inserting the date and time.
The Header and Footer dialog appears. Use the Slide tab to add date and time to main slides, or the Notes and Handouts tab for printouts distributed to your audience.
Select your preferred format from the dropdown. Choose Fixed for a static date/time (e.g., creation timestamp), or Update Automatically for dynamic display from your system clock. Avoid showing it on the title slide.
Note: PowerPoint updates the date and time when you open, print, or start the slideshow—not continuously.
Click Apply to All to finalize.
For global audiences or international teams, tailor formats to cultural preferences. As a presenter working across regions, this ensures clarity.
Go to File > Options > Language. Under Add additional editing languages, select and add your desired languages, then click OK.
Reopen the presentation, position your cursor (e.g., in a text box or via Insert > Date & Time), and choose a format with the appropriate language from the dropdown.
Confirm with OK—your date and time now match the selected locale.
Adding date and time is a quick polish before presenting. Explore The Best Free PowerPoint Templates for design inspiration, or learn to Enhance Your PowerPoint with Excel Data Visualizations.
Do you include date and time in your slides? Why? What other elements do you add? Share in the comments!
