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When moving animation motion parts around (the lines that start with a green arrow and end in a red one), they are snapping to each other. Is there a way to disable this?

I have tried disabling object snapping to both object and grids but it's still doing it.

9 Answers 9

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I found that zooming in closer before moving the path's end point solved the snapping problem

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    Simple and effective!
    – GHC
    Nov 15, 2019 at 8:55
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I've found if you open the Selection pane (available under the Home tab, Select drop down) and hide the item that is being snapped to, you should avoid this issue. Then once you've finished editing the item you're moving you can unhide the offending item and you should be good to go.

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What works for me is to use the arrow keys on the keyboard rather than the mouse to move the motion paths. Click once on the motion path to select it (without moving it) and then the arrow keys will work.

This is after unchecking the "Snap to Grid" options.

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    Unfortunately, this changes both where the object is starts and where the object stops - at the same time. It doesn't allow for minute adjustments to just the start location or just the stop location.
    – EchoLynx
    Jul 19, 2019 at 16:36
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While you are moving the path item (line,curve, etc) if an end point gets close to another path item's end point, then they will snap, if they apply to the same object (the shape you want to animate).
Animation paths that belong to separate shapes don't snap to each other.

To overcome this problem, move the path items by their endpoints, one at a time.

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    The paths in question belong to different objects and they are definitely snapping together (I'm using straight line motion paths) May 14, 2011 at 21:16
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I've had the same trouble. Simply hold down Alt as you drag the endpoints. That allows you to overrule the grid and snap.

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    ALT does have an effect, but as soon as I release the mouse button it snaps anyway. Aug 26, 2016 at 10:50
  • Works for me in PowerPoint 2016.
    – EchoLynx
    Jul 19, 2019 at 16:38
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  1. drag the whole offending motion path somewhere miles away from the others.
  2. adjust the finish position first.
  3. correct the starting position.
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I know this is an old question, but for the benefit of new readers...

In PowerPoint 2016 I have been struggling with this issue for a couple of hours now. I have found no means of disabling this snapping of motion points to motion points of other objects - particularly an end-point snapping to a start-point of another object.

Here is my work-around:

  1. Cut the object, which you are currently animating, and paste it into a new temporary slide
  2. On the temporary slide, edit your animation paths to your heart's desire
  3. Copy/cut your object from the temporary slide back to the original slide

Now the animation path points of your object should have been placed in the exact same positions as you set them on the temporary slide.

Note: Using the keyboard shortcuts for cut/copy/paste (CTRL+X / CTRL+C / CTRL+V) among slides will place your objects at the same position on the target slide, as they were on the source slide, so you do not need to worry about getting the position right on the destination slide.

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This works most times (but not always). Click to highlight the object to be moved then after, click and hold down the ALT while you move it. Release ALT key before you release the click hold. The item will lock into the new place without snapping to the object. It does not always work though and I resort to moving the object away from the area, shifting its motion path, then moving it back to its original position. I haven't found a better system but was hoping to find a better one hence me searching on here. It seems there isn't one though. I use it up to 10 times on a single slide often.

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After aeons of struggling with this frustration, I just stumbled upon something that seems to help quite a bit (ppt 2010). I'm having great luck moving the destination endpoints only one x/y axis at a time! i.e. only vertically OR only horizontally. So if I need to move the endpoint down and right, I only move it straight down first (release), and then I only move it straight to the right (release).

... been doing this for an hour now, with none of the excruciating annoyances I've grown to expect and detest.

Hope that helps somebody!

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