How to make an interactive quiz on PowerPoint (free templates)

PowerPoint is brilliant for showing information and not so good at getting anything back from the room. A quiz fixes that. When every person answers on their own phone, you find out what people actually know, the quiet ones get a say and the energy in the room goes up.

You could build a quiz inside PowerPoint with triggers, hyperlinks and animations, but it takes a long time and nobody can answer except the person holding the clicker. This guide shows the quicker way: build the quiz on AhaSlides, then drop it into your deck with the free AhaSlides add-in for PowerPoint so your audience can answer live.

Quick facts

QuestionAnswerWhat do I need?PowerPoint 2019 or later or Microsoft 365, on Windows or Mac (or PowerPoint for the web), and a free AhaSlides accountDoes it cost anything?The add-in is free, and the free AhaSlides plan lets you host up to 50 participantsHow do people answer?On their own phones, by scanning a QR code or typing a short join linkWhich quiz types work?All of them: Pick Answer, Short Answer, Match Pairs, Correct Order, Categorise, True or False and Fill in the BlanksDo I get the results?Yes, every session is saved to a report in your AhaSlides account

How to make an interactive quiz on PowerPoint

Step 1: Build your quiz on AhaSlides

1. Sign up for a free AhaSlides account if you do not have one yet.
2. On your dashboard, click New Presentation. You can also start from a ready-made quiz template or ask the AI panel to draft the slides for you.
3. Add a slide and choose one of the seven quiz slide types.

• Pick Answer: multiple choice, with text or image answers.
• Short Answer: players type their answer.
• Match Pairs: players match prompts to answers.
• Correct Order: players put statements in the right order.
• Categorise: players sort items into groups.
• True or False: one statement, two options.
• Fill in the Blanks: players type or pick the missing words in a sentence.

4. Type your question. On a Pick Answer slide you can click Generate options to let AI suggest answer choices, then edit them.
5. Set the points and the time limit for each question. A leaderboard slide is added automatically after your quiz slides.
6. Pick a theme and colours to match your deck or brand.

Want more from your quiz? You can add hints on Pick Answer slides. Any paid plan can add audio to quiz questions, and higher paid plans add team play and shuffled answer options.

Step 2: Install the AhaSlides add-in for PowerPoint

1. Open PowerPoint and go to Home > Add-ins, then choose More Add-ins. On Windows you can also reach the same store from File > Get Add-ins, as Microsoft's guide to installing add-ins explains.
2. Search for AhaSlides and click Add. The add-in is listed on the Microsoft Marketplace as AhaSlides - Live Polls & Quizzes.
3. The AhaSlides window appears on your slide. Delete the default PowerPoint title and text boxes and stretch the window so it fills the whole slide.

If the store will not load or the install fails, you can install the add-in from its manifest file instead. The AhaSlides help centre has the file and the steps.

Step 3: Add your quiz to the slide

1. Sign in inside the add-in. If PowerPoint is signed in with a work or school Microsoft account, click Continue as with your email address and you are in with one click; otherwise log in as usual. Then open the quiz you built.
2. To add one question, select it and click Select this slide. To add the whole quiz to one PowerPoint slide, click Select Presentation. In PowerPoint for the web, questions are added one at a time, while adding the whole quiz as one slide works on web and desktop.
3. Need to fix a typo? Select the slide, turn on Edit mode and change it on the Content tab without leaving PowerPoint. If you edit the quiz on AhaSlides instead, open the Menu in the add-in and click Reload to pull in the changes.

Step 4: Run the quiz live

Start your slideshow as normal. When you reach the quiz, the join link appears at the top of the slide. Click the small QR code icon to show a large QR code that everyone can scan.

Once everyone is in the lobby, start the quiz. A few things worth knowing while you present:

• Arrow keys work. If you added the whole quiz to one slide, the left and right arrow keys move through the quiz questions first, then on to the next PowerPoint slide.
• Show the scores. Press L (or click the trophy icon) for a pop-up leaderboard at any point.
• Moving on ends the quiz. If you leave a quiz slide, the quiz ends automatically. Go back to it and it resets to the lobby, ready to play again.

After the quiz: review the results

Everything your audience submitted is saved to the presentation report in your AhaSlides account. You can see how many people joined, how accurate their answers were and how each question went, which tells you what to go over again next time.

On paid plans you can also export the data to Excel, or export your slides with their results as a PDF or images.

Troubleshooting

• The QR code is cut off in slideshow mode. The add-in only shows what fits inside its window. Go back to edit mode, delete any leftover PowerPoint text boxes and drag the AhaSlides window until it fills the slide.
• A co-host cannot run it. The AhaSlides Presenter role does not work inside the PowerPoint add-in. If two people need to run the same quiz at once, each needs their own copy.
• A colleague cannot open the quiz slides in your file. People on your AhaSlides team, or signed in with your company email domain, get Editor access automatically when they open the file. Anyone else, including Gmail or Outlook.com addresses, needs to request access or be added as a collaborator. For a file made before October 2026, add the AhaSlides slides again and share the new copy. Sharing a PowerPoint file with AhaSlides slides.
• You use an older version of Office. The desktop add-in needs PowerPoint 2019 or later. If you cannot upgrade, you can use PowerPoint for the web instead.

Free templates to use in PowerPoint

Each of these templates is free to copy into your AhaSlides account. Edit the slides, then add them to your deck with the add-in as described above. The free plan limits how many quiz questions you can host, so a longer quiz such as the True or False template may need a paid plan; your My Plan page shows the limits on your account.

1. True or False quiz

Four rounds of true-or-false statements on science, biology, geography and general knowledge, with a leaderboard after each round. It works well for parties, team events or a quick warm-up at the start of a lesson.

2. English language lesson

A ready-made English lesson with a synonyms word cloud, a spinner wheel, a short story to discuss and a quiz round on nouns, adjectives and word meanings, finished with a leaderboard. Get the English language lesson template.

3. New class icebreakers

Not a scored quiz, but a good warm-up before one. Get to know a new class with word clouds on favourite subjects and foods, Two Truths and a Lie, a desert island question, a spinner wheel and an open Q&A for students to ask about you. Get the new class icebreakers template.

Comparing tools? Read our review of the Slido add-in for PowerPoint, or learn how to add a timer in PowerPoint.

FAQ

Can you make an interactive quiz in PowerPoint without an add-in?

Yes, with triggers, hyperlinks and animations, but it is slow to build and only the presenter can click the answers. An add-in such as AhaSlides lets everyone in the room answer on their own phone and keeps score for you.

Is the AhaSlides add-in for PowerPoint free?

Yes. The add-in is free to install and works with a free AhaSlides account, which lets you host up to 50 participants. The free plan also limits how many quiz questions you can host, and extras such as team play and data export need a paid plan.

Does the add-in work on a Mac?

Yes. The AhaSlides add-in works on Mac as well as Windows, with PowerPoint 2019 or later or Microsoft 365.

Does the add-in work in PowerPoint for the web?

Yes. The add-in now works in PowerPoint for the web, so you can build and run the quiz from your browser with no desktop install. Questions are added one at a time on the web, and adding the whole quiz as one slide works on both web and desktop. See the help article for the steps.

Can I add polls to PowerPoint as well?

Yes. The add-in works with every AhaSlides slide type, so you can mix quiz questions with polls, word clouds and Q&A in the same deck.