With Presenter view, your notes show only on your screen.
Presenter view is a second window that only the presenter sees. The audience screen shows only the scenes. In this window, you see the current scene, the next scene, your notes, and the time as you move through the show.
Present with Presenter view
Connect a projector or an external monitor. In your computer’s display settings, set the two screens to extend, not duplicate (mirror). If they’re duplicated, both screens show the same thing, so you can’t see Presenter view and the audience screen separately.
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Write your notes
In the button row at the top right, click the third button, the book-shaped Notes button. Click the Scene tab. What you write here becomes the notes for the open scene and shows in Presenter view. For another scene’s notes, open that scene in the Scenes list first, then write. On the Project tab, write memos you want to see for the whole show.
Clicking the Notes button opens the panel, and what to say in this scene goes on the Scene tab. Video: Clicking the Notes button at the top right and then the Scene tab opens a field where a note on what to say in this scene is typed. -
Start with Presenter view
In the button row at the top right, click the small chevron-shaped Presentation options button just to the right of the triangle button. In the menu, choose Play with Presenter View. A separate Presenter view window opens, and the show starts from the scene that’s open now. To present from the beginning, open the first scene in the Scenes list beforehand.
Clicking Play with Presenter View in the menu opens a separate Presenter view window. Video: Clicking the small chevron button just right of the triangle button and then Play with Presenter View opens a separate, dark Presenter view window with the current scene, the next scene, notes, and a timer. -
Make the audience window full screen
The window that had the editor is the audience window. Drag it onto the projector or external monitor, and click it once. It goes full screen, and this click doesn’t advance the scene. Until then, the top of Presenter view shows “Click the audience window to go full screen.”
Clicking the audience window makes it full screen, and the notice at the top of Presenter view disappears. Video: Clicking the audience window, still at window size, makes it full screen. The scene stays the same, and the full-screen notice at the top of Presenter view disappears. -
Advance from Presenter view
Click Next at the bottom of Presenter view. The audience screen advances, and the current scene, the next scene, and the notes in Presenter view change with it. You can also press → or Space. The text next to “Next input” at the bottom tells you what the next advance does.
Clicking Next moves both the audience screen and Presenter view to the next scene. Video: Clicking Next in Presenter view moves the audience screen to the second scene, and the current scene, next scene, and scene notes in Presenter view change with it. -
End the show
Click End show at the bottom of Presenter view. The audience screen shows the “End of show” card. If you gave the project a name and a description, they show on the card too. Click the audience window to end the show, and the Presenter view window closes on its own. The editor appears in the window on the projector, so move that window back to your screen.
Clicking End show brings up the “End of show” card, and clicking the audience window brings back the editor. Video: Clicking End show in Presenter view brings up a card reading Quarterly Review and End of show on both screens. Clicking the audience window brings the editor back in its place, and the Presenter view window closes.
You can’t end the show from the Presenter view window alone
End show only puts a card on the audience screen. If you then click Previous or Next in Presenter view, the card goes away and the scene you were on comes back. In the Presenter view window, esc only closes the settings.
To end the show, click the audience window that shows the card. When the audience window is in front, any key you press on the end card ends the show, even ←, and the editor appears on the projector.
The Presenter view window
| Area | What it shows and how to use it |
|---|---|
| Top bar | Shows the elapsed time, the current time, and the scene number and name. Click the elapsed time to pause it, and click it again to resume. Click Reset to start counting from 0 again. |
| Current scene | Moves exactly like the audience screen. The top left shows “Playing,” “Waiting at stop,” or “Scene end,” and the dots on the progress bar just below are stops. When you cover the audience window with B (black screen) or W (white screen), the scene still shows here. The two keys work only when the audience window is in front, and after you click in Presenter view, clicking the audience window advances the scene. If you plan to cover the screen, don’t click in Presenter view after step 3. Advance with the keyboard instead. |
| Next scene | A preview and the name of the next scene. On the last scene, it shows “End of show.” If you turned on Loop back to the beginning in Play settings, it shows the first scene. |
| Scene notes · Project notes | The current scene’s notes and the project notes. You can edit them during the show. Change the text size with the A− and A+ buttons. |
| Bottom bar | Has the Previous, Pause, Next, and End show buttons. Pause changes to Play while playback is paused, and it’s unavailable on a scene with no animation or with all its animation finished. Next to “Next input,” you see what happens next, such as “Play to the next stop” or “Go to the next scene.” |
| Scene strip | Shows every scene that isn’t hidden as a row of thumbnails. Click one, and the audience screen jumps to that scene, regardless of order. |
Presenter view settings
To open the settings, click the Presenter view settings button (the sliders icon) at the top right. Your choices stay in this browser and carry over to your next show.
Drag the divider between two areas to resize them. Double-click a divider to put it back.
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Theme | Dark (default) · Light · System. System follows your device’s light or dark mode. |
| Layout | Default · Notes · Preview. Notes gives the notes area more room, and Preview gives the current scene more room. |
| Show | Turns Next scene, Scene strip, Clock, and Live preview on or off. With Live preview off, the current scene shows as a still image. Turn it off when your computer is slow. |
| Target time | Type how long you plan to present, in minutes. The top bar shows the time remaining. When you go over, it shows how far over you are, with a + sign. |
| Restore defaults | Returns every setting to its default. |
Taking questions · editing notes · when the window won’t open
To pause while you take questions. Click Pause. The scene’s animation and any video or audio synced to the timeline stop where they are. Click Play to continue.
To edit notes during the show. Double-click the notes and edit them. Then press ⌘↩ or click somewhere else. Your edits are saved to the project. esc discards your edits.
If the Presenter view window doesn’t open. Your browser blocked pop-ups from this site. Allow pop-ups, then press S in the audience window. Until then, the show goes on without the window. If the audience window isn’t full screen, click it once.
Shortcuts on this page
| Open Presenter view · bring it to the front (audience window) | S |
|---|---|
| Cover the audience screen · uncover it (audience window) | BorW |
| Next | →orSpace |
| Previous | ← |
| Save notes | ⌘↩ |
| Cancel note edits · close settings | esc |
Updated 10/12/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.