The Web Viewer is gone. Live slides are back.

Put a living web page inside your PowerPoint slide.

Charts that update. Calculators your audience can use. Your own app, running right on the slide. No tab-switching, no breaking the flow of your presentation.

Get the free add-in Read the setup guide

Free. Works on Windows, Mac, and PowerPoint on the web. Built for people who like things that just work, and don't mind a five-minute setup.

The moment that started this

You know the pause. The one where you leave your slides.

You are presenting, the room is with you, and then you need to show the live thing. The dashboard. The calculator. The prototype. So you minimize PowerPoint, find the browser, wait for the page, and the spell breaks. The audience watches you fumble between windows instead of watching the idea.

For years there was a quiet fix for this. Microsoft's Web Viewer add-in let you drop a live web page straight onto a slide. Then it was retired, and the people who relied on it were left switching windows again, searching for something to replace it and mostly coming up empty.

SparkSlides Embed is that replacement, rebuilt on the modern, supported add-in platform. It does one thing with care: it shows a live, interactive web page on your slide, and keeps it fully usable while you present. Your charts stay current. Your demo stays clickable. Your flow stays unbroken.

"A presentation should not have to stop being a presentation just to show something real."

This page is part story and part manual. First the why, because it changes how you think about a slide. Then the how, step by step, honestly, including the parts that take a little patience. If you have ever wished your slides could do more than sit still, you are in exactly the right place.

The short version

What it is
A free PowerPoint add-in that displays a live, interactive web page directly on a slide.
What it replaces
The retired Microsoft PowerPoint Web Viewer add-in.
Works during
Editing and live presentation mode. You can click, type, and interact with the embedded page mid-show.
Platforms
Windows, Mac, and PowerPoint on the web.
Cost and privacy
Free. Runs from your own presentation file. Stores no personal data on any server.
Best for
Pages you own, and any page that offers an embed option, such as dashboards, charts, and calculators.

Why it changes the room

Three things it does that a screenshot never will

Stay in the flow

No minimizing, no hunting for the right tab. The live content is already on the slide, so your presentation never breaks stride.

Always current

The page loads live every time, so a dashboard or chart shows real numbers as of this moment, not a screenshot from last week.

Let them touch it

Hand the audience a working calculator, a configurator, or your actual product, and let them watch it react in real time.

See it, don't take our word

This is a live, interactive embed. Right here on the page.

The box below is a real web tool, running live, exactly the way it would sit on your slide. Click into it and use it. This is the experience your audience gets, without you ever leaving PowerPoint.

sparkslides.com LIVE

A live, interactive embed running right here on the page. Try it, then imagine it on slide twelve of your next deck.

One honest word before you start

This is a free tool with a setup that is a little more hands-on than clicking install. Because it is not yet in the Office store, you add it manually, a process that takes about five minutes and a bit of care. The guide below walks you through every step. If you are the kind of person who enjoys making capable tools work, you will be done before your coffee cools.

Setup Guide

  1. Download the manifest file

    The manifest is a small file that tells PowerPoint where to find the add-in. Download it and remember where it lands.

    Download manifest.xml

  2. Put it in a simple shared folder

    Create a plain folder with no spaces in the name, for example on your C drive, and move the manifest into it.

    C:\PPTAddin

    Right-click the folder, choose Properties, open the Sharing tab, click Share, pick your own username, then Share and Done. The Sharing tab now shows a network path that begins with two backslashes, such as \\YOUR-PC\PPTAddin. Copy that path.

  3. Tell PowerPoint to trust that folder

    Open PowerPoint, then go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Trusted Add-in Catalogs.

    • Paste the network path into the Catalog Url box and click Add catalog.
    • Tick the Show in Menu checkbox on that row. This step is easy to miss, and the add-in will not appear without it.
    • Click OK to close both windows.

  4. Restart, then insert it

    Close PowerPoint completely and reopen it. On the Insert tab, open the My Add-ins dropdown and choose the Shared Folder tab. Select SparkSlides Embed and click Add.

  5. Embed a page and present

    The add-in lands on your slide. Paste a web address that allows embedding, click Embed, then press F5 to present and interact with it live.

    Good to know: use a page you own or one that offers an embed option. Some sites block embedding for security, and those will show a blank box. That is set by the site, not by the add-in.

  1. Download the manifest file

    The manifest is a small file that points PowerPoint to the add-in. Download it to your Mac.

    Download manifest.xml

  2. Open the PowerPoint add-in folder

    In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste the path below. If the final wef folder does not exist yet, create it.

    ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Powerpoint/Data/Documents/wef

  3. Drop the manifest in

    Move manifest.xml into that wef folder. That is the whole installation on Mac.

  4. Restart, then insert it

    Quit PowerPoint fully and reopen it. On the Insert tab, open My Add-ins, find SparkSlides Embed, and add it to your slide.

  5. Embed a page and present

    Paste a web address that allows embedding, click Embed, then start your slideshow and interact with it live.

    Good to know: use a page you own or one that offers an embed option. Some sites block embedding for security, and those will show a blank box. That is set by the site, not by the add-in.

Troubleshooting

The add-in does not appear in the Shared Folder list

Almost always one of three things, in order: PowerPoint was not fully restarted after adding the catalog, the Show in Menu box was not ticked, or the path you pasted was a regular folder path instead of the network share path that begins with two backslashes. Fix whichever applies and restart.

The embedded page is blank or says it cannot be displayed

That page blocks being shown inside other apps, which is a security setting on the website itself and cannot be changed from PowerPoint. Use a page you own, or one that offers an embed option. If it is your own site, you can adjust its embedding setting on your hosting platform.

It works for me, but the embed is blank for someone I sent the deck to

Anyone who opens your presentation also needs the add-in installed to see the live content. Share this guide with them, and once they have set it up, the embed will appear.

Nothing loads at all

The page loads live, so you need an internet connection. Check that you are online and that the address opens normally in a browser.

I changed the manifest and PowerPoint still shows the old version

PowerPoint caches add-ins. Clear the cache by emptying the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\ on Windows, then restart. Changes to the embedded web page itself do not need this, just refresh.

Downloads

The add-in manifest

The small file that installs SparkSlides Embed into PowerPoint. Start here, then follow the setup guide above.

Download manifest.xml

The full PDF guide

The complete walkthrough with screenshots for Windows and Mac, ready to keep and follow offline.

Download the PDF guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to make a PowerPoint presentation interactive?

The most direct way to make a PowerPoint slide truly interactive is to embed a live web page on the slide, so your audience can use a real tool, dashboard, or calculator during the talk. PowerPoint's built-in animations, triggers, and hyperlinks add movement and navigation, but only embedded live web content lets people interact with real, current software inside the slide itself. A free content add-in like SparkSlides Embed does this on Windows, Mac, and PowerPoint on the web.

Can you embed a live website inside a PowerPoint slide?

Yes. A PowerPoint content add-in such as SparkSlides Embed displays a live web page directly on a slide, and the page stays interactive while you present, so you can click, type, and use it without leaving PowerPoint. The address you embed is saved in your own presentation file.

Are HTML presentations replacing PowerPoint?

Web-based presentation tools that use HTML, such as reveal.js and Slidev, are a growing trend because they make slides interactive and easy to share online. In practice PowerPoint still dominates, because it offers dependable offline presenting, presenter view and timing controls, fine-grained slide control, and near-universal familiarity at work. For most people the realistic path today is not an immediate switch but a combination: keep PowerPoint for flow and control, and embed live web content on the slides where interactivity matters.

Should I switch from PowerPoint to a web-based or HTML presentation?

It depends on what you value most. HTML presentations are strong when interactivity, live data, and online sharing are the priority. PowerPoint remains better for reliable in-room presenting, presenter tools, offline use, precise slide control, and working with colleagues who already use it. A practical middle path during this transition is to stay in PowerPoint and embed interactive web pages onto specific slides, which gives you PowerPoint's presentation flow together with the interactivity of the web.

Can I combine the interactivity of the web with the control of PowerPoint?

Yes, and this is increasingly the practical choice. By embedding a live web page onto a slide with a content add-in, you keep everything PowerPoint does well, including the presentation flow, presenter view, offline reliability, and slide-by-slide control, while adding the live, interactive content that the web does well. It is a coordinated, bridge approach that suits the current transition period, when interactive HTML presentations are rising but PowerPoint is still the standard.

What replaced the PowerPoint Web Viewer add-in?

Microsoft retired its Web Viewer add-in, which used to embed web pages in slides. SparkSlides Embed is a free, modern replacement built on the supported Office add-in platform, and it works on Windows, Mac, and PowerPoint on the web.

Why will some web pages not embed in PowerPoint?

Some websites block being displayed inside other apps using a security setting known as a frame policy. This is set by the website itself and cannot be changed from PowerPoint. Pages you own, and pages that offer an official embed option, embed reliably; many dashboards, charts, and tools provide such an embed link.

Does an embedded web page stay interactive during a live presentation?

Yes. In slideshow mode the embedded page is live, so clicking and typing work just as they would in a browser. For the smoothest experience, choose content that fits in the slide area without needing to scroll inside the embed.

Is embedding a web page in PowerPoint free and private?

SparkSlides Embed is free to download and use. The web address you embed is stored inside your own presentation file, and the add-in keeps no personal data on any server.

Your next slide can do something.

Five minutes of setup, and the live web lives inside your deck. Go make a presentation no one expects.

Get the free add-in Back to the guide