How to Use Presenter View in Keynote
How to Use Presenter View in Keynote
Keynote Presenter View gives you a private screen with your notes, the next slide, and a timer while the audience sees only your slides. To turn it on, add notes under each slide with View > Show Presenter Notes, connect a second display, then play. Keynote routes the presenter view to your Mac and the slideshow to the other screen automatically.
Apple actually calls this the "presenter display," so that's the wording you'll see in the menus. Below is the full setup, how to choose what appears on your side, and how to make it work on a single screen or while you're sharing your screen.
Add your notes first
Presenter View only earns its keep if you have notes to read. Add them before anything else.
In Keynote, go to View > Show Presenter Notes. A notes field opens under the slide canvas. Click any slide in the sidebar and type the talking points for that slide. Keep them short. A few prompts per slide beat a wall of text you can't scan mid-sentence.
These notes never appear on the slide itself. They live in the presenter display, on your screen only. If you want help shaping what goes in that field, our complete guide to speaker notes covers what to write and what to cut.
Turn on Presenter View
With notes in place, the setup is short.
Connect a second display: a projector, an external monitor, a TV, or an AirPlay screen. Set it to extend, not mirror, so the two screens can show different things.
Start the show with Play > Play Slideshow (or the Play button in the toolbar).
Keynote sends full-screen slides to one display and the presenter view to the other.
By default your screen shows the current slide, the next slide, your notes, and a clock. The audience gets clean slides with none of it.
If the two screens land backward, with the presenter view facing the room, press X during playback to swap them. That one key fixes the most common live mistake.
Customize what your presenter display shows
You decide what sits on your private screen, and you can do it before you ever stand up.
Go to Play > Customize Presenter Display. Keynote opens the layout so you can turn elements on or off and drag them around. Your options include the current slide, the next slide, presenter notes, a clock, and a timer that counts your elapsed time.
A few choices that pay off:
Make the notes bigger. Drag the notes panel wider and bump the font so you can read it with a glance, not a squint.
Keep the next slide visible. Knowing what's coming smooths your transitions and kills the "uh, what's next" pause.
Add the timer. If you have a hard stop, the elapsed clock keeps you honest without a phone on the lectern.
Set this once and Keynote remembers it for the presentation.
Want your notes right under the camera instead of on a second screen?
Keynote's presenter display does its job, but it lives on another monitor, off to the side and well below your webcam. An invisible notes overlay like Oculta puts a few lines just under your camera and keeps them out of any screen recording or share.
Keynote Presenter View gives you a private screen with your notes, the next slide, and a timer while the audience sees only your slides. To turn it on, add notes under each slide with View > Show Presenter Notes, connect a second display, then play. Keynote routes the presenter view to your Mac and the slideshow to the other screen automatically.
Apple actually calls this the "presenter display," so that's the wording you'll see in the menus. Below is the full setup, how to choose what appears on your side, and how to make it work on a single screen or while you're sharing your screen.
Add your notes first
Presenter View only earns its keep if you have notes to read. Add them before anything else.
In Keynote, go to View > Show Presenter Notes. A notes field opens under the slide canvas. Click any slide in the sidebar and type the talking points for that slide. Keep them short. A few prompts per slide beat a wall of text you can't scan mid-sentence.
These notes never appear on the slide itself. They live in the presenter display, on your screen only. If you want help shaping what goes in that field, our complete guide to speaker notes covers what to write and what to cut.
Turn on Presenter View
With notes in place, the setup is short.
Connect a second display: a projector, an external monitor, a TV, or an AirPlay screen. Set it to extend, not mirror, so the two screens can show different things.
Start the show with Play > Play Slideshow (or the Play button in the toolbar).
Keynote sends full-screen slides to one display and the presenter view to the other.
By default your screen shows the current slide, the next slide, your notes, and a clock. The audience gets clean slides with none of it.
If the two screens land backward, with the presenter view facing the room, press X during playback to swap them. That one key fixes the most common live mistake.
Customize what your presenter display shows
You decide what sits on your private screen, and you can do it before you ever stand up.
Go to Play > Customize Presenter Display. Keynote opens the layout so you can turn elements on or off and drag them around. Your options include the current slide, the next slide, presenter notes, a clock, and a timer that counts your elapsed time.
A few choices that pay off:
Make the notes bigger. Drag the notes panel wider and bump the font so you can read it with a glance, not a squint.
Keep the next slide visible. Knowing what's coming smooths your transitions and kills the "uh, what's next" pause.
Add the timer. If you have a hard stop, the elapsed clock keeps you honest without a phone on the lectern.
Set this once and Keynote remembers it for the presentation.
Want your notes right under the camera instead of on a second screen?
Keynote's presenter display does its job, but it lives on another monitor, off to the side and well below your webcam. An invisible notes overlay like Oculta puts a few lines just under your camera and keeps them out of any screen recording or share.
Keynote Presenter View gives you a private screen with your notes, the next slide, and a timer while the audience sees only your slides. To turn it on, add notes under each slide with View > Show Presenter Notes, connect a second display, then play. Keynote routes the presenter view to your Mac and the slideshow to the other screen automatically.
Apple actually calls this the "presenter display," so that's the wording you'll see in the menus. Below is the full setup, how to choose what appears on your side, and how to make it work on a single screen or while you're sharing your screen.
Add your notes first
Presenter View only earns its keep if you have notes to read. Add them before anything else.
In Keynote, go to View > Show Presenter Notes. A notes field opens under the slide canvas. Click any slide in the sidebar and type the talking points for that slide. Keep them short. A few prompts per slide beat a wall of text you can't scan mid-sentence.
These notes never appear on the slide itself. They live in the presenter display, on your screen only. If you want help shaping what goes in that field, our complete guide to speaker notes covers what to write and what to cut.
Turn on Presenter View
With notes in place, the setup is short.
Connect a second display: a projector, an external monitor, a TV, or an AirPlay screen. Set it to extend, not mirror, so the two screens can show different things.
Start the show with Play > Play Slideshow (or the Play button in the toolbar).
Keynote sends full-screen slides to one display and the presenter view to the other.
By default your screen shows the current slide, the next slide, your notes, and a clock. The audience gets clean slides with none of it.
If the two screens land backward, with the presenter view facing the room, press X during playback to swap them. That one key fixes the most common live mistake.
Customize what your presenter display shows
You decide what sits on your private screen, and you can do it before you ever stand up.
Go to Play > Customize Presenter Display. Keynote opens the layout so you can turn elements on or off and drag them around. Your options include the current slide, the next slide, presenter notes, a clock, and a timer that counts your elapsed time.
A few choices that pay off:
Make the notes bigger. Drag the notes panel wider and bump the font so you can read it with a glance, not a squint.
Keep the next slide visible. Knowing what's coming smooths your transitions and kills the "uh, what's next" pause.
Add the timer. If you have a hard stop, the elapsed clock keeps you honest without a phone on the lectern.
Set this once and Keynote remembers it for the presentation.
Want your notes right under the camera instead of on a second screen?
Keynote's presenter display does its job, but it lives on another monitor, off to the side and well below your webcam. An invisible notes overlay like Oculta puts a few lines just under your camera and keeps them out of any screen recording or share.
Keynote Presenter View gives you a private screen with your notes, the next slide, and a timer while the audience sees only your slides. To turn it on, add notes under each slide with View > Show Presenter Notes, connect a second display, then play. Keynote routes the presenter view to your Mac and the slideshow to the other screen automatically.
Apple actually calls this the "presenter display," so that's the wording you'll see in the menus. Below is the full setup, how to choose what appears on your side, and how to make it work on a single screen or while you're sharing your screen.
Add your notes first
Presenter View only earns its keep if you have notes to read. Add them before anything else.
In Keynote, go to View > Show Presenter Notes. A notes field opens under the slide canvas. Click any slide in the sidebar and type the talking points for that slide. Keep them short. A few prompts per slide beat a wall of text you can't scan mid-sentence.
These notes never appear on the slide itself. They live in the presenter display, on your screen only. If you want help shaping what goes in that field, our complete guide to speaker notes covers what to write and what to cut.
Turn on Presenter View
With notes in place, the setup is short.
Connect a second display: a projector, an external monitor, a TV, or an AirPlay screen. Set it to extend, not mirror, so the two screens can show different things.
Start the show with Play > Play Slideshow (or the Play button in the toolbar).
Keynote sends full-screen slides to one display and the presenter view to the other.
By default your screen shows the current slide, the next slide, your notes, and a clock. The audience gets clean slides with none of it.
If the two screens land backward, with the presenter view facing the room, press X during playback to swap them. That one key fixes the most common live mistake.
Customize what your presenter display shows
You decide what sits on your private screen, and you can do it before you ever stand up.
Go to Play > Customize Presenter Display. Keynote opens the layout so you can turn elements on or off and drag them around. Your options include the current slide, the next slide, presenter notes, a clock, and a timer that counts your elapsed time.
A few choices that pay off:
Make the notes bigger. Drag the notes panel wider and bump the font so you can read it with a glance, not a squint.
Keep the next slide visible. Knowing what's coming smooths your transitions and kills the "uh, what's next" pause.
Add the timer. If you have a hard stop, the elapsed clock keeps you honest without a phone on the lectern.
Set this once and Keynote remembers it for the presentation.
Want your notes right under the camera instead of on a second screen?
Keynote's presenter display does its job, but it lives on another monitor, off to the side and well below your webcam. An invisible notes overlay like Oculta puts a few lines just under your camera and keeps them out of any screen recording or share.