Docs · Present & export
Live slideshow
Present to any room or call with a join link. The audience follows your slides on their own devices, and everyone can draw on them together.
A live slideshow is presenting with an audience. Instead of (or alongside) a projector, your viewers open a short join link on their own phones or laptops and follow your slides in real time, so when you advance, everyone advances. You can annotate slides as you talk, and if you like, let the audience draw too.
It's built for classrooms, workshops, all-hands, and remote calls where "can everyone see my screen?" is the worst part of the meeting.
Start a live slideshow
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Open the arrow next to Present in the top bar and choose Live slideshow. This arms live mode: the button becomes Start Live and a join screen appears in the editor with your deck's link and QR code. (On a phone, use the ⋯ menu → Present live instead.)
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Share the link. The join screen shows a short URL (
afterdeck.app/live/…) plus a QR code, sized to throw on a projector while people file in. There's a one-click Copy link, and the same link also lives in the Share menu while live mode is on. -
Click Start Live. You present exactly like normal Present mode, with the same controls, transitions, and presenter view, while everyone who joined follows along.
Your audience doesn't need an Afterdeck account, or even to be in the room. Anyone with the link sees your slides live in their browser, with your transitions and any deck music playing on their device too.
Live mode is a persistent setting per deck: once armed, the deck stays in live mode (with the same join link) until you switch back, so a recurring class can reuse one link. Only the deck's owner can start a live slideshow.
Host controls
While you're live, a control bar gives you the room:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Watching count | How many people are following right now. |
| Jump to slide | Skip straight to any slide. |
| Annotation tools | Pen, highlighter, text, and eraser for drawing on the slide everyone's watching. |
| Free roam | Let the audience browse slides at their own pace. Off by default, so everyone is locked to your slide. |
| Audience pen | Let the audience draw and type on slides too. |
| Bring everyone | Snap every viewer back to your current slide (turning Free roam off does this automatically). |
| Join screen | Flip back to the link + QR screen mid-show for latecomers. |
| End | End the live session for everyone. |
Annotations
Annotations are the whiteboard half of a live slideshow. Draw with the pen, mark up with the highlighter, drop text, and clean up with the eraser. Everything you draw appears on every viewer's screen as you draw it.
With Audience pen on, viewers get the same tools, and everyone sees everyone's marks, which is great for brainstorms, quizzes, and "circle the answer" moments. Each person can undo their own strokes without touching anyone else's.
Annotations are live-session ink, not deck edits. They never change your slides.
Free roam
With Free roam on, viewers can swipe back to re-read an earlier slide or peek ahead. A Back to host button on their screen returns them to wherever you are. Turn Free roam off (or hit Bring everyone) and the whole room snaps back to your slide.
What the audience sees
Viewers get a clean, full-screen view of your deck, with no editor and no chrome. Your transitions and Magic Animate play on their devices just like on yours, and if the deck has a soundtrack it plays for them too (browsers sometimes require one tap to allow audio, so viewers get a "Turn on music" button when that happens).
If your connection hiccups, the show doesn't end. The audience keeps their place for a short grace period while you rejoin. When you hit End, viewers see that the live slideshow has ended.
Live slideshow vs. sharing a deck
| Live slideshow | Shared link | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience follows your slide | ✅ Yes, in real time | ❌ They browse on their own |
| Needs an account | ❌ No | ❌ No (view links) |
| Live annotations | ✅ Host + optional audience | ❌ No |
| Available when | While you're presenting | Any time |
Use a live slideshow for the talk itself; share a link for everything before and after.
Next steps
Presenting Full-screen presenting, presenter view, and speaker notes.
Transitions & Magic Animate The motion your audience will see live.