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I'm making a powerpoint presentation that are using alot of annimation, since this is to be recorded as a video. Only tool I had that suited my needs and I allready had.

I now have a bunch of groups which has annimations attached.

Are there any way I can add an object to an existing group so I don't have to recreate all the annimations again? Its a simple text I forgot ...

Seems so very simple, but I can't find a way to do it.

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@thenonhacker's suggestion will create a new group consisting of the original group plus the newly added shape, BUT: - the new group won't be animated AND - the original group will lose its animation. IOW, I don't think it'll do what you want.

If you have PowerPoint 2010, there's a way to do this, though.

Duplicate the original group, add the new shape to the duplicated group (exactly as @thenonhacker describes).

Click the original animated group to select it.

Click Animations tab | Advanced Animation group | Animation Painter (this picks up the animation from the original)

Click the new group (to apply the animation)

Delete the original group (after testing to make sure that the animation was applied correctly)

You may then need to use the animation pane to reorder the animations.

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  • I like you idea of 'simple task'. Duplicate, Add to dupe. Paint from original to dupe. delete original group. Where is a simple add to existing group? – shadowbq Feb 22 '15 at 3:55
  • @shadowbq Powerpoint doesn't have that feature. But Steve's solution is a genius one - and address the OP's problem. (which incidentally is the same problem I googled) – Here Be Wolves Sep 23 '15 at 13:33
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    This does not seem to work in PP 2013. If I select a group and an object, then click Group, a new group is created that contains the old group and the new object. The animation is lost in the process. – David Balažic Mar 18 '16 at 1:17
  • Also for me the animation is lost :( – desmond13 Nov 14 '20 at 14:57
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Duplicating (not copying/pasting) items in a Group will add them to the Group without ungrouping/regrouping thus maintaining the animations.

For example, if you need to add text to an existing Group and maintain the animation:

Select the Group you want to add the new text box to.

Click an existing text box within the Group. Press CTRL + D to duplicate the existing text box. This will add a duplicate text box to the Group without ungrouping/regrouping. Edit the new text box as desired.

If you don't have a text box already in the Group, select a shape and duplicate it. Any shape (other than a line) should work since you can change the shape to a rectangle after you duplicate it. Change the properties of the shape to those of a text box (rectangle, no line, no fill, etc) and then add the text to it.

If you don't have any shapes (or other objects that will take text) but have a picture in your Group, add a text box to the slide (not in the Group--just anywhere on the slide). Add the text that you need to put in the Group to this text box. Right click on the new text box and select Save as Picture. Save it somewhere convenient (Desktop), then delete the text box. Select a picture in your Group and duplicate it. Right click the new (duplicated) picture and select Change Picture. Find and select the text box you just saved as a picture (Desktop). Unfortunately you cannot edit the text anymore but your animations are still intact.

If your Group doesn't have any of these objects that you can manipulate to take text, then you may be out of luck.

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  • It's kind of sad that this is the only way I see... – quazgar Nov 18 '13 at 17:30
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Select your new item and choose an animation type for it. Note its appearance in the animation pane (right of window when "Animations" toolbar is selected). Now use the Re-Order tool at the bottom of the Animation Pane to move the new item to a spot just below (in the animation pane) the last item in the animation group you wish to add it to. Select the new item, use the pulldown menu to select 'Start With Previous'. You should see the new item merge with the existing animation group.

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  • This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you. What I needed to do is add a caption to a picture and have it appear at the same time as the picture. This got the job done! – BobRodes Nov 16 '15 at 5:45
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  1. Select your existing group.
  2. Shift click the new object you wanted to add to the group.
  3. Click the "Group" command.
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    That actually creates a new group. Existing animations on the old group don't get propagated. – Here Be Wolves Sep 23 '15 at 13:35

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