How Can I Get Rid of the Comment on the Last PowerPoint Slide?

From Wendy Russell, former About.com Guide

Remove That Unsightly Comment on the Last Black Slide

A reader comments:
"In PowerPoint 2010, every slide show I create ends with a black slide with a note at the top stating End of slide show, click to exit. I think this is unsightly and would like to just have a plain, black slide to end the show, rather than this notation that PowerPoint inserts automatically. Can this be done?"

Answer:
The answer is 'yes' and it takes only a few quick steps to disable this feature in PowerPoint and replace it with your own setting. I love 'work-arounds'. I feel so proud of myself when I find a solution to those annoying features in Microsoft products. Don't you just hate it when Microsoft makes these decisions for you?

For Your Amusement
Check out what others find as PowerPoint Pet Peeves

• Step One - Disable the 'End with black slide' Feature
  1. Open a PowerPoint presentation.
  2. Click File > Options.
  3. In the PowerPoint Options dialog box, click Advanced in the left task pane.
  4. Scroll in the list on the right side about half way down. Under the section heading Slide Show remove the check mark beside End with black slide.
  5. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply this change. A black slide with the text will no longer appear in your slide show.
• Step Two - Add Your Own Black Slide
  Your question stated that you wanted a black slide to end the show, but one that did not have the automatic text applied. There is more than one way to perform this task, but I find that this is the quickest solution.
  
  1. Add a new slide at the end of the presentation. (It does not matter what type of slide layout is applied to this new slide.)
  2. Click on the Home tab of the ribbon if it is not already selected.
  3. Towards the right side of the ribbon, you will see the Drawing section. Click on the rectangle shape button in the selection of the drawing tools.
  4. Click and drag your mouse from just outside of the left top corner of the slide and down to the right until you reach just past the outside of the bottom right corner.
  5. When you release the mouse, the colored rectangle with cover the whole slide, and a bit more.
  6. Click on the new rectangle if it is not already selected. Looking once again at the Drawing section of the ribbon, click on the Shape Fill button.
  7. From the drop down selections, click on black as your color.
  8. The slide is now covered entirely by a black rectangle. This will be your last slide in the presentation, with no text statement appearing at the end of your slide show.

An Aside - One Further Tip About the Black Slide
If you are inserting music to play across the presentation, using a plain black slide to complete the slide show allows the music to continue playing after the presentation is finished. In certain circumstances, this can be a nice end to the presentation. I used this setup when I created a memorial presentation when my father passed away. The black slide stayed on screen while his favorite music continued to play in the background while the guests chatted. It was a nice ending.