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Microsoft 365 subscribers can replay ink strokes as they were drawn; this lets you illustrate things step by step or show a thought process.

You can hide and reveal content on your slides or emphasize individual elements in a group or series. You can see the order in which ink was drawn, pause the replay, and select the point to start the replay from. This feature is available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

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Replay a sequence of ink strokes

When you use your stylus or touch screen device to draw ink on a page, the Ink Replay option becomes available on the Draw tab of the Ribbon to rewind and replay your ink strokes as they occurred.

Choose the Ink Replay button to rewind and replay your ink strokes.
  1. On the Draw tab, tap the Draw button, or ensure that it's selected.

  2. Select a pen from the gallery on the ribbon, then draw in your document with your finger or digital stylus.

  3. On the Draw tab, tap Ink Replay.

    The app momentarily removes all ink and then immediately redraws it in the same sequence it was originally drawn.

PowerPoint: Apply an Ink Replay animation for a slide show

The Ink Replay button in PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 only works in Normal (editing) view. To create a replay that can appear during a slide show, apply the Replay or Rewind animation to the ink you've drawn, use the following steps (available to Insiders beginning with version 1910 or later):

  1. On the Draw tab, tap Lasso Select and select the ink you want to apply the animation to.

  2. Tap the Animations tab, and then select Replay or Rewind from the Animation Effects gallery.

    • Replay starts with the ink not showing and then plays the ink strokes in the sequence they were drawn.

    • Rewind starts with the ink showing and then erases it from the screen in reverse.

  3. By default the animation effect starts On Click. You can change this setting on the right end of the Animations tab.

  4. By default the animation effect lasts two seconds. You can change the Duration of the effect on the right end of the Animations tab, and you can add a Delay before it starts, if you like.

  5. On the Slide Show tab, tap From Current Slide to see your animation play in Slide Show view.

Make Ink Replay visible on the Ribbon in PowerPoint 2016

The Ink Replay button on the Draw tab was mistakenly hidden from view for some users of PowerPoint 2016 on devices that aren't touch-enabled. This mistake has been corrected in version 16.0.8112. If your PowerPoint has been affected, once you have version 16.0.8112 or later installed, you can permanently correct the problem by resetting the customizations for the Draw tab, as follows:

  1. Open File > Options.

  2. Select the Customize Ribbon tab in the Options dialog box.

  3. In the box on the right side of the dialog box, ensure that the Customize the Ribbon box is set to Main Tabs or All Tabs.

  4. In the long box below that, select the entry for the Draw tab.

  5. At the bottom of the dialog box, open the list box named Reset and select Reset only selected Ribbon tab.

  6. Click OK to close the dialog box.

    The Ink Replay button is now restored to the Draw tab.

See Also

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