Presentation Mode
| Component of Microsoft Windows | |
 | |
 Windows Mobility Center showing a tile to quickly toggle Presentation Mode on or off | |
| Type | Mobility tool |
|---|---|
| Introduced in | Windows Vista |
Presentation Mode is a component of Microsoft Windows. It is a mobility feature that contains a set of automatic rules that optimize the user experience when sharing a presentation when enabled.
History[edit | edit source]
Presentation Mode was introduced in Windows Vista. It consists of a special mode that, when enabled, makes some changes to the system with the goal of optimizing the experience when giving a presentation. These changes include:
- The screensaver, notifications, and the Sleep power feature are turned off.
- The system volume is set to a specific level.
- The desktop background is temporarily switched to a black image or any of the system ones.
Although the first three changes are the only ones that are enabled by default, they can always be modified to the user's preference in Presentation Settings.
Management[edit | edit source]
Unlike other Windows components, preferences for Presentation Mode aren't all located in a single place. Instead, there are two apps that have them:
- Windows Mobility Center contains tiles where other frequent mobile parameters can be quickly managed. For example, users can easily adjust the volume, brightness, and view other information. Presentation Mode, however, can only be turned on or off here.
- Presentation Settings is where all settings for Presentation Mode are located. It is located on Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Windows Mobility Center → Adjust settings before giving a presentation.
Availability[edit | edit source]
Presentation Mode and its settings menu are only available in high-end SKUs of all supported Windows versions. These include Business/Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate in Vista and 7 (where Business was replaced by Professional), and Pro and Enterprise in 8, 8.1, 10, and 11. In unsupported SKUs, Presentation Mode resources and the settings dialog are not present, although there is a bug where Control Panel shows the link to access Presentation Settings on them, and clicking it shows an error on PresentationSettings.exe not being found.