The compatibility check is a new feature of PowerPoint 2007. When you have saved a beautifully formatted 2007 PowerPoint presentation, have Office check the compatibility check with older versions of PowerPoint.
For example, if your document contains SmartArt (which is a feature that is not supported in earlier versions of PowerPoint), when a colleague using PowerPoint 2003 opens your document, the SmartArt graphics will be converted into a single object that cannot be edited.
To have Office check the document for features that are not supported in earlier versions of Word, follow these steps:
- Click Office button.
- Click Prepare in the left pane and click Run Compatibility Checker.
PowerPoint 2007 provides a report that lists the document's unsupported features and details what you can do, if anything, to make your document readable in earlier versions.

If you frequently e-mail documents in compatibility mode, you can have PowerPoint automatically run a compatibility check every time you save a file. To do so, select the Check Compatibility When Saving In PowerPoint 97-2003 Formats check box in the PowerPoint Compatibility Checker dialog box before clicking OK to close the compatibility report.
Created:
May 21, 2008
Sr. Arlene Callahan
Training Manager
Rivier College
Nashua, NH 03060
Phone: 603.897.8660
E-mail:
acallahan@rivier.edu
