You can use the Selection pane to manage objects in your document: re-order them, show or hide them, and group or ungroup them.
Tip: In Word, you might want to set the location of objects within a paragraph. When you move a paragraph, the corresponding anchored image(s) move with the paragraph.
Access the Selection pane
On the Home tab, choose one of the following in the Editing group.
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In Word or PowerPoint, choose
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In Excel, select
The Selection pane displays the name of each inserted object with the numbered order each was inserted. For objects that overlap, the display shows the top object as the top in the list.
Note: In Word, inline objects are listed in the Selection Pane, but you can't reorder them, hide them, or multi-select them.
Note: After you select an item in the Selection pane, you can select the item again to change the name of the item.
Move objects forward or backward
You can change the list's order of overlapping objects by moving objects forward or backward.
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Select one or more items in the Selection pane list. Use Ctrl + Click to multi-select.
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Drag the selected object name up or down in the list. You can also use the Bring Forward or Send Backward buttons in the Selection pane.
Note: For an object that's in a group, you can only move it within the group.
Group or ungroup objects
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Use Ctrl + Click to select the items you want to group.
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On the Shape Format tab, select
Note: After grouping the objects, you can format them or move or move them on the canvas as a single entity. For more information, see Group or ungroup shapes, pictures, or other objects.
Tip: To add an object or multiple objects outside of a group, you need to select the group and then select the additional object(s).
Hide or unhide objects
When you hide an object in a document, the object remains in the file, but it's no longer visible in the document.
Important: This feature should be used with caution, as it is easy to entirely forget about a hidden object.
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Select an item in the list of objects in the Selection pane.
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To hide the object, select
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To unhide the object, select
Tip: To see an object that's under another object, you can hide the object on top temporarily, make the changes you want, and then show the object on top again.
Lock or unlock objects
When you lock an object, the object can't be modified.
1. Select an object in the Selection pane
2. To lock the object, select 
3. To unlock the object, select 
Keyboard shortcuts
|
To do this |
Select |
|---|---|
|
Open the Selection pane |
Alt+F10 |
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Move the keyboard focus through the major regions until it is in the Selection Pane |
F6 |
|
Navigate by keyboard through the buttons in the pane and then into the list |
Tab |
|
Move the focus among the items in the list |
Up arrow, down arrow |
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Select an item in the list |
Enter or spacebar |
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Edit the name of the item in the list that has focus |
F2 |
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Add or remove the item from the selection (multi-select) |
Shift+Enter or Shift+spacebar |
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Turn on the visibility of the item that has focus |
Ctrl+Shift+S |
|
Send the selected items backward |
Ctrl+Shift+B |
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Bring the selected items forward |
Ctrl+Shift+F |
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Lock a selected item that has focus to prevent editing Unlock a selected item that has focus to edit the object |
Ctrl+Shift+L |
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Expand the current group |
Right arrow |
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Collapse the current group |
Left arrow |
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Expand all groups |
Alt+Shift+9 |
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Collapse all groups |
Alt+Shift+1 |
Once you've inserted shapes, text boxes, SmartArt graphics, images, or other objects, you can open the Selection pane to manage them all.
Move objects forward or backward
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Select one of the objects you want to manage.
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On the Shape Format tab, select Selection Pane.
Note: The Selection pane displays the name of each inserted object with the numbered order each was inserted. For objects that overlap, the display shows the top object as the top in the list.
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Select an object in the list.
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Drag an object up to move it forward or down to move it backward.
Hide or unhide objects
When you hide an object in a document, the object remains in the file, but it no longer visible on the document.
Important: This feature should be used with caution, as it is easy to entirely forget about a hidden object.
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Select an item in the list of objects in the Selection pane.
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To hide the object, select
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To unhide the object, select
Tip: To see an object that's under another object, you can hide the object on top temporarily, make the changes you want, and then show the object on top again.
Group or ungroup objects
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Select ⌘ + click to choose multiple objects.
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On the Shape Format tab, select
Lock or unlock objects
When you lock an object, the object can't be modified.
1. Select an object in the Selection pane
2. To lock the object, select
3. To unlock the object, select
In PowerPoint for the web you can use the Selection pane to show or hide items on the slide or to reorder them.
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Select one or more shapes.
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On the Home or Shape tab, select
Objects are listed in the pane in visual stacking order—top-to-bottom. The most recently inserted object is at the top of the list.
Change the order of the objects
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Select one or more items in the list. Use Ctrl + Click to select multiple items.
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Drag the selected item up or down or select the Bring Forward or Send Backward arrows.
Note: If an object is in a group, you can only reorder it within the group.
Show or hide Objects
To hide or show an individual object on your slide, do the following steps:
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Select an item in the list of objects in the Selection Pane.
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To hide the object, select
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To unhide the object, select
To edit an object that's under another object, hide the object on top temporarily, make the changes you want, and then show the object on top again.
Group objects
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Use Ctrl + Click to select the items you want to group.
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On the Home tab, select
After grouping the objects, you can format them or move or move them on the canvas as a single entity. For more information, see Group or ungroup shapes, pictures, or other objects.
Note: You can select multiple objects within a group, but you can't select objects within groups together with objects not in groups.
Tips
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Double-click an item to rename it. In PowerPoint for Microsoft 365, this feature is handy when using the Morph transition. See Morph transition: Tips and tricks for details.
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By default, the most recently inserted object is at the top of the list in the Selection Pane, and the first object inserted is at the bottom of the list.
Keyboard shortcuts
You can use these keyboard shortcuts in the Selection pane:
|
To do this |
Press |
|---|---|
|
Move the keyboard focus through the major regions until it's in the Selection Pane |
Ctrl+F6 |
|
Navigate by keyboard through the buttons in the pane and then into the list |
Tab |
|
Move the focus among the items in the list |
Up arrow, down arrow |
|
Select an item in the list |
Enter or spacebar |
|
Edit the name of the item in the list that has focus |
F2 |
|
Add or remove the item from the selection (multi-select) |
Ctrl+Enter or Ctrl+spacebar |
|
Toggle the visibility of the item that has focus |
Ctrl+Shift+S |
|
Send the selected items backward |
Ctrl+Shift+B |
|
Bring the selected items forward |
Ctrl+Shift+F |
|
Expand the current group |
Right arrow |
|
Collapse the current group |
Left arrow |
|
Expand all groups |
Alt+Shift+9 |
|
Collapse all groups |
Alt+Shift+1 |
