How to password protect a Google Slides presentation

To prevent others from viewing or editing your slideshow, you may be wondering how to password protect a Google Slides presentation. You may have even been scouring the menus and settings for the password option.

As of this writing, Google Slides doesn’t offer a password feature. Until Google provides a native way to password protect presentations in Slides, here are a few workarounds you can use.

{toc}

Method 1: Restrict access in Google Slides

While you can’t apply a password to Google Slides presentations that you share, you can restrict access to the slideshow. This allows you to grant access to specific users and limit what they can do.

1. With your presentation open in Slides, select Share on the top right.
2. Set the General access at the bottom to Restricted so that only those with a link can open the file.
3. Enter the contacts or email addresses in the Add people box at the top.

4. Use the drop-down box to the right to set the permission to Viewer or Commenter per your preference. Note that if you choose Editor, the user can make changes to the presentation.
5. Optionally mark the Notify people option and enter a Message.

6. To further adjust the permissions, select the Settings (gear) button on the top right.
7. You can then uncheck the boxes for Editors or Viewers and Commenters if you like.

8. Use the arrow on the top left to return to the previous screen and Send to share a link to the file.

Method 2: Download and protect with PowerPoint

If you have Microsoft PowerPoint on your computer, you can download the Google Slides presentation and password protect it using that application.

1. Go to File > Download and pick Microsoft PowerPoint.
2. Follow the prompts per your web browser to download and save the file.
3. Open the downloaded file in PowerPoint on Windows or Mac and do the following.

On Windows:

1. Go to File > Info and choose Protect Presentation.
2. Pick Encrypt with Password.

3. Enter the password in the pop-up box and click OK. Notice that you cannot recover the password if lost, so be sure to make note of it.

You can then save or share the presentation as normal.

On Mac:

1. Select File > Passwords in the menu bar.
2. Check the box below Password to open. Optionally, you can set another password to modify the file.

3. Enter and verify the password and click Set Password.

4. Click OK to apply the password and then save or share the slideshow.

Method 3: Use a Google Slides add-on

One more way to secure your Google Slides presentation is using an add-on. Password Protect for Google Documents allows you to password protect your slideshow as a PDF document. While not ideal as your original presentation isn’t protected, the file you share with others will be.

1. Visit the Google Workspace Marketplace to Install the Password Protect extension.

2. Once installed, open Google Drive.
3. Locate the Google Slides presentation and either click the three dots to the right or right-click the file.
4. Move to Open with and select Password Protect for Google Docs.

5. When the extension opens, you’ll see the name of your file and its size. Enter the Password and optionally adjust the Encryption Key-Length.
6. Click Create Password Protected Document.

Return to your Google Drive to view the newly saved PDF of the slideshow. From there, you can preview the file by entering the password when prompted or share the file and password.

Create and edit presentations with Plus AI

If you’d like a little help creating new presentations or editing existing ones, you can use the artificial intelligence of Plus to speed up the process. Plus AI works with Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint for presentation assistance in both applications.

You can create new slideshows by entering a prompt, uploading a file, or pasting text. And, you can edit presentations by adding new slides, rewriting the content, or remixing the slide layouts.

Taking hours or even days to build engaging and attractive presentations is a thing of the past --- check out the features, templates, examples, and then start your free trial with Plus AI!

Conclusion

While Microsoft offers a native feature for password protecting documents, Google hasn’t followed suit quite yet. But in the meantime, these workarounds can help keep your Google Slides presentations from falling into the wrong hands.

FAQs

Can I hide Google Slides?

You can easily hide individual slides from appearing when you present in a Google Slides. Right-click the slide and select Skip slide. You’ll then see the slide with a hidden icon. To unhide it later, right-click and pick Unskip slide.

Can you make a Google Doc password protected?

Like Google Slides, you won’t see a built-in option for password protecting a Google Doc. You can share it with restricted access, download and password protect it using Microsoft Word, or install the Password Protect for Google Documents add-on.

How to protect Google Slides from editing?

When you share a Google Slides presentation, choose Viewer or Commenter for the recipient. This protects them from editing the file. If you’re working in Google Slides yourself, select View > Mode and pick Viewing or Commenting.