Best practices for uploading Microsoft Office documents Updated July 04, 2025 15:56 Note: This article is no longer maintained. For updated information, please refer to the corresponding Admin App article. We recommend updating your links if you’ve linked to this article. Microsoft Office provides an easy and quick way to create your documents. Like other types of documents, you can upload these files to Showpad. We convert all Microsoft Office documents to PDFs to ensure a great user experience while using the Showpad app. When a prospect or customer downloads these files, the converted files will download in their original format (e.g., .xlsx, .docx., .pptx, etc.). If you prefer to restrict downloads to PDF versions only, you can learn how to do so in this article. Key features Uploaded MS Office files are converted to PDF for a great user experience For Powerpoint PPTX and PPSX files, embedded media can play in the converted document in Showpad according to the rules you defined in PowerPoint File sizes up to 500MB can be previewed and browsed in Showpad Customers can download the original MS Office file if enabled, or files can be restricted to PDF download only Hidden slides in PowerPoint files will not be shown in Showpad Do this step by step Optimized file size Best practices for uploading Microsoft Office documents Best practices when using embedded media in PPTX/PPTS Optimized file size We recommend uploading MS Office files with a maximum size of 500MB. In this case, files can be previewed and browsed on the user’s screen as well as shared and downloaded. It is possible to upload larger documents that range from 2 to 4 GB. However, users won't be able to preview these documents when browsing Showpad. They will only be able to search for, share, and download them. If you encounter large PowerPoint files that are not processing, you can manually move them to the Library. To do so, go to your Library in Showpad and check the Processing tab. Locate the PowerPoint file with an error message, click on it, then select the Continue button. The presentation will be moved to your Library, and you can now add it to Experiences. Users cannot preview this file in Showpad, but they can download it. Also, files containing embedded media that have not been processed successfully may appear incorrectly to users upon downloading. For instance, a video may be displayed as an image. If you encounter issues with uploading PowerPoint files with embedded media and processing fails, we recommend you copy and paste the contents of a PPTX into a new PowerPoint document. This can remove the specific content that blocks the processing. This way, animations and other embedded media are preserved if users download the file. If this doesn't work, reach out to Support by clicking the Help button at the bottom before clicking Continue or Cancel in Showpad. This allows us to investigate what is causing the processing issues with the affected files. Back to Top Best practices for uploading Microsoft Office documents Familiarize yourself with the export possibilities and settings of your Microsoft Office applications. Try to create and upload your documents by taking these guidelines into account: Feature Best Practices Converting PDF If the structure of your document is not correct after uploading, we advise converting to PDF before uploading. Especially for Excel files, changing the document's layout can prevent the file from looking different. Converting file types Some file types embedded in a PowerPoint presentation will not be supported when viewed in Showpad. We recommend converting that content to a supported type. All supported content types are listed here. Embedded fonts These are used, for example, to match your documents with your company's branding. We especially recommend to embed fonts if you have customized fonts in your MS Office documents. Embedding fonts will prevent the document's fonts, layout, and styling to change and special characters to become unreadable. Although, in some cases, certain fonts will still display differently in Showpad, even when embedded in the document. To embed fonts in your Microsoft Office files, depending on which version you're using, please take a look at the article on Microsoft's support site. Macros in MS Office files Converting files to PDF format results in macros not being viewable in Showpad since this is a native Microsoft Office concept. It's also possible that the upload of your document fails because of this. Remove existing macros from the file if that's an option, or export the sheet as a PDF file and upload that document to Showpad. Large dataset Excel files When working with complex, large dataset Excel files, it is possible that you can't preview the file in Showpad. The following message shows up "This document could not be previewed with your browser. Please download the file to view it". A workaround is to save and upload the file as an XLS file (97-2004 format) instead of a more complex XLSX file format. You can also hide large data sheet tabs to speed along processing and optimize viewing on Showpad; this will solve most processing fails for Excel files. Displaying images correctly in your document An Office document can contain many hidden objects. These can result from past manipulations, copy/paste actions from web pages, file corruption, etc., and may be difficult to trace. To remove any hidden objects that might prevent your images from being viewed correctly, you can follow these steps in the Office editor: In the menu, go to "Edit" > "Go To..." Click the "Special..." button Select "Objects" and click "OK". All objects (if any) should now be selected, even those that are usually invisible. Now that you know where they are located, it's just a matter of deleting the irrelevant ones to have a blank document again. Back to Top Best practices when using embedded media in PPTX/PPTS We recommend reviewing these tips and recommendations when uploading PPTX/PPTS files that contain embedded media files: Feature Best Practices Analytics Assets containing embedded media will be tracked just as other assets are. There are no specific analytics, shared insights, or Shared Spaces insights for the embedded media files individually. Auto-play videos The distinction between whether a video in a PPTX is set to play automatically or be done manually is inherited from the Powerpoint settings. The exception is when several videos are orchestrated on a slide, including at least one auto-play. In these cases, all videos become manual play. Available PPTX customization settings For embedded media in PPTX on the Web app, the following settings will work: crop/trim (in space and time), rotate, flip, and turn sound on/off. For embedded media in PPTX on mobile apps, the following settings will work: rotate, flip. Compatibility Support for embedded media in Powerpoint assets in Showpad is supported specifically by PPTX and PPTS file types. PDF, Google Slides, etc, are not currently compatible. Full-screen mode We advise converting your file to PDF and then adding the links in the PDF file. Read more about asset links in this article. PowerPoint files with reduced image quality The image quality can be reduced when uploading PowerPoint files and PowerPoint files that are exported as PDFs. This can happen when using smaller PowerPoint slide sizes with images that are bigger than the PowerPoint slides. The image quality improves when you make the original slide at least as big as the image. PowerPoint files with transparency The layout and design can be broken after processing PowerPoint files that use transparent images. By changing this to solid fill, it can fix the problem. Right-click on the image in PowerPoint, format shape, fill, and solid fill. Sharing embedded media in assets While sharing assets containing embedded media is supported, it is not possible to specifically share embedded media that is part of a presentation. It is also not possible to download a media file from a single slide. Supported codecs Processing failures may occur when the video uses an unsupported codec. The codecs supported by this feature can be found here. Note that the file can still be processed even when the processing of videos fails. In this case, the video will not be available in the uploaded file. Video specifications Video files are best rendered when using a reasonable bit rate. We recommend converting to MP4 for optimal performance. Videos from streaming services such as Vimeo or YouTube will not play in Showpad. Effects added to the video can impede the rendering of the video within the PPTX/PPTS. Review this documentation to learn more about best practices for uploading video files. When applicable, we recommend using asset links to videos that can not be uploaded in your PPT. Related articles Supported file types Best practices for uploading videos in Showpad Best practices for uploading PDFs and resolving common issues Showpad Academy Sync DAM systems using Asset Connect