Importing PPT slides error

Apr 04, 2023

Cindy Ross
By Cindy Ross

I'm using another laptop with Office 365 installed and I created the PPT. When the PPT is imported to Articulate it works great on the laptop with 365.

Then I move over to my other work computer , and it's running 2016 office, I get an error on importing the same PPT.
https://articulate.com/support/article/Articulate-Storyline-360-Failed-to-Import-PowerPoint-Presentation.

The same version of Articulate (using Storyline) is running on both laptops. 
Is this a Microsoft incompatibility issue with one being 2016 and other being 365?
I would think that 2016 version of PPT would work. It's got all the updates, begins on slide 1, no password, repair was done. The only item I can think of is permissions.  I tried to load from My Desktop vs My Drive and even Downloads since that isn't backup or doing any backups, with same results.


Specifically, what permissions are needed? Do I need root/admin permissions to be applied to the non-functioning laptop that won't import?  When this was installed we did not run as administrator as that was never setup on either pc this way.

Pinned Reply
9 Replies
Cindy Ross
1 year ago04/04/23 at 9:23 pm (UTC)

Update from tech support: "Thanks for contacting Articulate Support!

I understand that you cannot import a PowerPoint file into your Storyline project and was wondering whether Microsoft Office 2016 is supported by Storyline 360.

I appreciate you sharing the troubleshooting that you have done.

Based on the article, Storyline 360 supports Microsoft Office 365 or the latest perpetual version (32-bit or 64-bit). As of this moment, the latest perpetual version of Microsoft Office is Office 2021. Since you've done the troubleshooting on that article, and can also import the same file on another machine using 365, then it is not file-specific. The perpetual version you're using is probably the reason why you can't import the file to Storyline 360.

Let me know if you need anything else, I'm happy to help!"

I have yet to test this and see if we can install the 365 or the 2021 vs 2016.

Eric Santos
1 year ago04/05/23 at 3:45 pm (UTC)

Hi Cindy,

Great idea opening a case! I confirmed that you've connected with my teammate, Ian. Thanks for your patience in trying out the troubleshooting steps he suggested!

Let's continue the conversation in your support case to keep all the information in one place. Please feel free to reply to the email for any feedback on your test results.

Cindy Ross
1 year ago04/05/23 at 6:19 pm (UTC)

Unfortunately the company doesn't want to install 365 because of the security issues that exist for our company. Getting a cloud based app that has components that are not permitted is impossible. Has articulate thought of also including gslides to allow imports? The only version we are allowed to install is 2016.

Note: I even opened 2016 PPT and used the articulate tab to publish, to no avail. Even this will not work. Add Ins COM were "Go" and allowed.

Cindy Ross
1 year ago04/11/23 at 7:20 pm (UTC)

Thanks to the wonderful team at Articulate and another local user on same domain, where there are strict domain policies in effect, to enable an "Exception to use VBA Macros in Microsoft Powerpoint (Windows-only)" This has been requested, but will take 48 hours to get enabled. But this has worked for them. This post will be updated if it doesn't work and reaching out to the wonderful 'Gerald' for further help. At this time, fingers crossed.

Sign In to Reply