# Present a PDF as slides

Show a PDF (slides exported from PowerPoint, Keynote, LaTeX Beamer, ...) full screen, one page at a time, and move through it with the keyboard, the mouse or a presenter remote.

**Press `F5` to start presenting and `Esc` to stop.** At a glance:

- **Presentation:** full screen, one page at a time, fit to the screen. `F5`, `Ctrl + L`, `Shift + F11`
- **Next / previous slide:** `Right` / `Left`, `Page Down` / `Page Up`, `Space`, a click
- **Black / white screen:** `.` (or `b`) / `w`
- **Laser pointer:** **Toggle Laser Pointer** (`CmdToggleLaserPointer`), ver 3.7+
- **Command line:** `SumatraPDF.exe -presentation slides.pdf`

## Start presenting

Open the PDF, then:

- press `F5`, `Ctrl + L` or `Shift + F11`
- **View → Presentation**
- `Ctrl + K`, then `View: Presentation Mode` in [Command Palette](Command-Palette.md) (`CmdTogglePresentationMode`)

SumatraPDF fills the screen with the current page:

- one page at a time, zoomed to fit the screen, with no margins
- no menu, toolbar, tabs or sidebar
- the mouse cursor hides after 3 seconds without moving
- the screen doesn't turn off or go to sleep (`PreventSleepInFullscreen` setting)

Presentation works for PDF and other page-based documents; it is not available for CHM help files.

To present two pages side by side, set `Fullscreen.DisplayMode = facing` (or `book view`) in [advanced settings](Advanced-options-settings.md) (ver 3.7+).

## Move between slides

| Go to              | Keys                                    | Mouse                             |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| Next slide         | `Right`, `Page Down`, `Space`, `n`      | left click, `Shift` + right click |
| Previous slide     | `Left`, `Page Up`, `Shift + Space`, `p` | right click, `Shift` + left click |
| First / last slide | `Home` / `End`                          |                                   |
| A slide by number  | `Ctrl + G` or `g`, type the number      |                                   |

Most presenter remotes send `Page Down` / `Page Up`, so they work without setup.

To open the context menu while presenting, hold `Ctrl` and right-click.

## Blank the screen

Turn the screen black or white to take the audience's attention off the slides:

- `.` (period): black screen (`CmdPresentationBlackBackground`). Press `.` again to return.
- `w`: white screen (`CmdPresentationWhiteBackground`). Press `w` again to return.
- `b`: black screen (in the default one-page layout).

Any other key, or a click, also brings the slide back. The "blank screen" button of a Logitech-style presenter sends `.`, so it works too.

## Point with a laser pointer

**Available in [pre-release 3.7](https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/prerelease)**

**Toggle Laser Pointer** (`CmdToggleLaserPointer`) turns the mouse cursor over the page into a glowing red dot. While it's on, the cursor doesn't hide in presentation mode. Links and text still work under it. Run the command again to get the normal cursor back.

- `Ctrl + K`, then `Toggle Laser Pointer` in [Command Palette](Command-Palette.md)

It has no default key. To toggle it with a key, add a shortcut in [advanced settings](Advanced-options-settings.md) (see [Customize keyboard shortcuts](Customize-keyboard-shortcuts.md)):

```
Shortcuts [
    [
        Cmd = CmdToggleLaserPointer
        Key = Ctrl + Shift + P
    ]
]
```

## Stop presenting

- `Esc`
- `F5`, `Ctrl + L` or `Shift + F11` again
- double-click the top-right corner of the screen

The window comes back with the layout and zoom it had before.

## Presentation or full screen

|               | Presentation (`F5`)     | Full screen (`F11`)                                                 |
| ------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Layout        | one page, fit to screen | your current layout and zoom                                        |
| Toolbar, menu | hidden                  | hidden by default (`Fullscreen.Toolbar`, `Fullscreen.ShowMenubar`) |
| Mouse click   | next / previous page    | selects text, follows links                                         |
| Cursor        | hides after 3 seconds   | stays                                                               |

Full screen is for reading: `F11`, `Ctrl + Shift + L` or `f`, **View → Fullscreen**, `-fullscreen` on the command line.

## Start a presentation from the command line

```
SumatraPDF.exe -presentation slides.pdf
```

Start on a given slide:

```
SumatraPDF.exe -presentation -page 5 slides.pdf
```

Note: `-presentation` applies when this command starts SumatraPDF. If SumatraPDF is already running (and `ReuseInstance` is on, the default), the file opens in the running window in normal view; press `F5`.

See [Command-line arguments](Command-line-arguments.md) and [Open a PDF at a page or search term](Open-PDF-at-page-from-command-line.md).

## Tips

- Use `-page` in a desktop shortcut to start a talk on its first slide every time.
- Use `.` on a presenter remote to blank the screen during questions.
- Use `Ctrl + K` while presenting to run any command without leaving presentation mode.
- Use `F12` while presenting to show the Bookmarks sidebar and jump to a section.

## See also

- [Keyboard shortcuts](Keyboard-shortcuts.md)
- [Customize keyboard shortcuts](Customize-keyboard-shortcuts.md)
- [Advanced settings](Advanced-options-settings.md): `Fullscreen`, `PreventSleepInFullscreen`
- [Command-line arguments](Command-line-arguments.md)