The controls available in the PowerPoint Control Toolbox are known as ActiveX controls. These controls are similar to those you find in such programming languages as Visual Basic. When you add an ActiveX control to a PowerPoint presentation, you can make the control "active" by writing macros that customize the behavior of the control. For example, you could use ActiveX controls to create an online survey in a presentation. Respondents could enter text in text boxes or select or clear checkboxes; the results could be analyzed later.

To register a NEW ActiveX control

Each set of new ActiveX controls comes with a setup program that installs and automatically registers the controls so they can be used from PowerPoint. To use a new control, complete the following steps:

1. Open a PowerPoint presentation.



2. Select View > Toolbars > Control Toolbox.



3. In the Control Toolbox, click More Controls (hammer and wrench icon).



4. Select the desired control. PowerPoint inserts the control.

Note If you copied an ActiveX control (a file with an .ocx or .dll extension) from an installation disk or from a network without using the appropriate setup program, the control might not be registered properly. Before you use the control, you must register it by selecting Register Custom Control.

To add an ActiveX control to a presentation

1. Open the presentation in which you want to add an ActiveX control.



2. Optional: If the Control Toolbox is not displayed, select View > Toolbars > Control Toolbox.



3. In the Control Toolbox, select the control you want to add.




Bonus Tip! If the Control Toolbox isn't displayed, point to Toolbars on the View menu, and then click Control Toolbox.



4. On the slide, drag the control to the desired size.



5. Right-click the control. Then click Properties on the shortcut menu.



6. Select the desired action.

Note For more information about setting properties or adding macro code to an ActiveX control, see Visual Basic Editor Help.