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PPT format guide

A .ppt file is a legacy PowerPoint presentation in the binary format used through PowerPoint 2003. Slides, shape records, and embedded media are packed into an OLE2 compound document that only full office suites interpret reliably.

Current availability

Format information only

Novus Convert does not currently process this format. No upload or download control is shown because the site never represents an unavailable conversion as working.

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Where PPT comes from

PowerPoint began at Forethought, Inc. in 1987 — Microsoft bought the company that same year for about $14 million — and its binary format shifted with each release until the PowerPoint 97 revision stabilized it. The MS-PPT specification was eventually published in 2008, by which point .pptx had already taken over.

How PPT works

  • An OLE2 Compound File whose PowerPoint Document stream holds nested typed records (containers and atoms).
  • Slide text is scattered across TextCharsAtom and TextBytesAtom records rather than gathered in one place.
  • Embedded images live in a separate Pictures stream; media can also be OLE-linked to external files.
  • VBA macros can be embedded, historically a significant attack vector in mailed decks.

When to use PPT

  • Opening slide archives created before Office 2007.
  • Working with organizations still standardized on Office 2003.
  • Salvaging images and text from old conference and training decks.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths

  • Still opened by PowerPoint, Keynote, LibreOffice Impress, and Google Slides.
  • An enormous base of legacy content keeps viewer support alive.
  • Publicly documented since 2008, enabling recovery tooling.

Limitations

  • The complex binary format effectively requires desktop suites — browser-side conversion is impractical, so this site documents .ppt without converting it.
  • Superseded for nearly two decades; no new features ever land in it.
  • Macro capability keeps it on many email security blocklists.

Compatibility

All modern PowerPoint versions open .ppt, as do LibreOffice Impress, Apple Keynote, and Google Slides via import. To move one through a browser-local converter, resave it as .pptx in any of those applications first.