What Is a PPTM File?
A file with the PPTM file extension is a Microsoft PowerPoint Open XML Macro-Enabled Presentation file. They’re comprised of pages called slides that hold text, media files like images and videos, graphs, and other things pertinent to a presentation. Like PowerPoint’s PPTX format, PPTM files use ZIP and XML to compress and organize the data into a single file. The difference between the two is that PPTM files can execute macros, while PPTX files, although they might contain them, can not. PPSM is a macro-enabled file similar to PPTM but is read-only by default and immediately starts the slideshow when opened. PPTM files let you edit the contents right away after double-clicking the file.
How to Open a PPTM File
If you just need a super quick way to view the contents of the file without any editing or conversion tools, and without needing to make a user account, use GroupDocs. However, for full editing power, use Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 or newer. If you have an older version, you can still open the file if you have the free Microsoft Compatibility Pack installed. PowerPoint Online is Microsoft’s own free online version of PowerPoint that fully supports opening PPTM files as well as saving back to the same format. Files you open there are stored in OneDrive. The free WPS Office works with this format as well, letting you open, edit, and save to various PowerPoint formats. That same company has an online version at WPS Cloud where you can view and edit the file. Another way to open (but not edit) PPTM files without PowerPoint is to use Microsoft’s free PowerPoint Viewer program. The following free software can open and edit PPTM files as well, but they make you save the file to a different format (not back to .PPTM): OpenOffice Impress, LibreOffice Impress, and SoftMaker FreeOffice Presentations. If you just want the images, audio, and video content from the PPTM file, but you don’t have a PPTM reader or editor installed, you can open the file as an archive with 7-Zip. Look in the ppt > media folder for those types of files.
How to Convert a PPTM File
The easiest way to convert the file is to use one of the PPTM viewers/editors from above. Once the file is open in the program, you can save it to another format like PPTX, PPT, JPG, PNG, PDF, and many others. To convert PPTM to an MP4 or WMV video, use PowerPoint’s File > Export > Create a Video menu. WPS Office’s desktop application is one way you make image files out of the slides. You can also use a free file converter like FileZigZag (which serves as an online PPTM converter) to convert the slideshow to a variety of formats, including PDF, ODP, POT, SXI, HTML, and EPS.
Still Can’t Open It?
This file extension closely resembles the PTM extension used for MapPoint Map files and PolyTracker Module files. If your file doesn’t work with the presentation software mentioned above, check the file extension again, because it might only work with a program like Winamp (if it’s a PTM file). Another example of a file extension that can easily be mixed up for a PPTM file is PTP, which is a preferences file used by Avid Pro Tools.
