Found a way to delete masters and layouts that are grayed out even though they are not used

Suni, Thank you for posting this information. I didn't know this was an issue. I know you can't delete slide masters or feedback masters if any slide is referencing it. I do notice that some slides though will still show the grayed out delete function but "DEL" on the keyboard still solves this. As long that their not referenced they would delete.

Hi Suni,

I haven't run into them being entirely greyed out either - but if you're still having an issue, would you share a copy of the .story file with us so that we can see if it's easy to replicate on your files as well? 

This is still not working for me.

I'm trying to set up a Storyline template for my team, based on a corp PPT deck. I wanted to add a slide with a slight variation and thought I'd create a new Master for this one exception. Instead, I realized that it would be simpler to just create a new slide, select "Hide Background Graphics" and then manually copy/paste the one graphic I wanted for this one new slide.

Now that I want to delete the extra Master layout and all its master slide, the Delete function is greyed out and even Suni's workaround of applying a different Theme is not working. And no, there are no slides using any layouts from this Master either.

Hi Phil!

You can't delete a slide master or layout that's currently being used by slides in your course. Check out this tutorial for assistance. 

Hi Phil!

I apologize, I meant to ask if you would be able to share your .story file for us to take a look at as well. I know that you mentioned the slides were not being used, but I'd like to take a look to understand the issue you are having.

Hi Leslie,

Thanks for the quick reply. Since the original Master Layout had two bands at the top and bottom of the slide and I wanted a variation that had a band at just the top, I did what I mentioned in my original post. "I realized that it would be simpler to just create a new slide, select Hide Background Graphics and then manually copy/paste the one graphic I wanted for this one new slide." So all I did was close the template file without saving changes and created this one additional and simple Layout.

I think the issue of the second Master Layout not being able to be deleted was the fact that I created it as a copy of the original Master Layout. Since the project had one slide that used one of the Layouts of that original Master, I assume that this second Master Layout retained that connection and therefore caused the Delete Layout option to be disabled. Those are my thoughts at least.

But I'm okay now, since I only needed to create that one additional Layout.

Thanks again,

Phil

Has there been a fix for this? I have used Suni's workaround in the past to delete unused Slide Masters that seem to think they are in use, but now I have a couple that I can't delete again.

I notice also that one of my slide masters says "used in 35 slides", but I only have 20 slides in my file.  (plus the other two that I am trying to delete each say they are used in slides, but I have gone through and verified that they are NOT being used anywhere)

Hi Terry,

We have an open feature request that we are tracking for the ability to identify which Slide Masters are in use and where within the project.

It sounds like you may be seeing something a bit different. With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately by uploading it here. I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting.

No worries, Terry. I appreciate you popping in to share an update as well.