Quick summary — how to unskip a slide in Google Slides:
- Open your presentation and look for the greyed-out slide in the left panel
- Right-click the hidden slide
- Click Unskip slide — the slide is immediately visible again
- Alternatively, go to Slide menu → Skip slide (toggle off)
You’re running through your presentation and realise a slide you need is missing from the show. Or you open a file shared by a colleague and notice some slides look faded in the panel — there but not showing up when you present. What’s going on?
In Google Slides, hidden slides are called “skipped” slides. They stay in your deck so you can see and edit them, but they’re invisible to your audience during a presentation. Unskipping them — bringing them back into your slideshow — takes two clicks once you know where to look.
This guide covers 3 ways to unskip slides in Google Slides: the right-click method, the Slide menu method, and how to unskip multiple slides at once. It also explains when and why you’d want to use the skip feature in the first place.
What Does “Skipping” a Slide Mean in Google Slides?
When you skip a slide in Google Slides, it stays in your presentation file but is hidden during the slideshow. In the slide panel on the left, skipped slides appear slightly faded with a small diagonal line through the slide number — a visual cue that they won’t show up when you present.
Skipped slides are different from deleted slides. A deleted slide is gone. A skipped slide is still there, fully editable, and can be brought back into your presentation at any time.
Common reasons people skip slides:
- To hide a slide during a specific presentation without permanently removing it
- To keep backup slides or extra data ready in case of audience questions
- To test different versions of a presentation (show slide A to one audience, slide B to another)
- To hide content that’s not yet ready but needs to stay in the file for later
For more information on how Google Slides handles slide visibility, see Google’s official Slides Help documentation.
Method 1: Unskip a Slide Using Right-Click (Fastest)
This is the quickest way and works in any browser on desktop.
Step 1: Open your presentation in Google Slides.
Step 2: Look at the slide panel on the left side. Find the slide that appears faded or greyed out — that’s your skipped (hidden) slide. You’ll also notice a small diagonal line through its slide number.
Step 3: Right-click on the skipped slide in the panel.
Step 4: In the context menu that appears, click Unskip slide.
The slide is immediately restored to your presentation. It will appear at full opacity in the panel, and it will show up when you next run the slideshow.
Pro tip: If you accidentally unskip a slide, press Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Cmd + Z (Mac) to undo it immediately.
Method 2: Unskip a Slide Using the Slide Menu
If you prefer using the top menu bar — or if right-clicking isn’t working as expected on your device — this method gives you the same result.
Step 1: Click on the skipped slide in the left panel to select it.
Step 2: In the top menu bar, click Slide.
Step 3: Look for the Skip slide option in the dropdown. When a slide is currently skipped, this option will have a checkmark next to it.
Step 4: Click Skip slide to toggle it off. The checkmark disappears and the slide is restored to your presentation.
This toggle approach makes it easy to skip and unskip the same slide repeatedly — useful when you’re preparing different versions of the same presentation for different audiences.
Method 3: Unskip Multiple Slides at Once
If several slides were hidden at once — either by mistake or intentionally — you can restore all of them in a single action rather than repeating the process slide by slide.
Step 1: Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac) and click each skipped slide in the left panel. All selected slides will show a blue highlight.
Step 2: Right-click any of the selected slides.
Step 3: Click Unskip slide in the context menu.
All selected slides are unskipped simultaneously. Alternatively, after selecting multiple slides, go to Slide menu → Skip slide to toggle them all at once.
Note: To select all slides at once, click the first slide in the panel, then press Ctrl + A (Windows) or Cmd + A (Mac). If any of the selected slides are skipped, right-clicking will give you the Unskip option for all of them.
How to Tell If a Slide Is Skipped
It’s easy to miss a skipped slide if you’re not sure what to look for. Here are the visual cues in Google Slides:
- Faded appearance: The slide thumbnail in the left panel looks lighter or greyed out compared to visible slides.
- Diagonal line through the slide number: A small strikethrough appears across the slide number in the panel — the clearest indicator that a slide is skipped.
- Slide menu checkmark: Click the slide, then open the Slide menu. If “Skip slide” has a checkmark next to it, the slide is currently hidden.
If you’re not sure whether all slides in your deck are visible, do a quick scan down the left panel before your next presentation. Any faded slides with strikethrough numbers need to be unskipped if you want them to show.
How to Skip a Slide (The Opposite Action)
Knowing how to hide a slide is just as useful as knowing how to restore one. To skip a slide in Google Slides:
Option A — Right-click: Right-click the slide in the panel → click Skip slide. The slide immediately becomes faded and hidden from your presentation.
Option B — Slide menu: Click the slide → go to Slide → Skip slide in the top menu bar.
Both methods work identically. The slide stays in your file and can be unskipped at any time using the methods above.
Ready-Made Templates for Google Slides
If you’re regularly managing presentations and want a professional starting point, browse SlideEgg’s free Google Slides templates. Every template is fully editable — you can add, skip, and unskip slides freely as your presentation needs change.
Working in PowerPoint as well? Explore our free PowerPoint templates — PowerPoint has a similar “Hide slide” feature that works the same way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will unskipping a slide change its position in the presentation?
No. When you unskip a slide, it reappears exactly where it was in your slide order. The position, content, and formatting are all unchanged — only its visibility in the slideshow is restored.
Do skipped slides affect slide numbering during a presentation?
No. When presenting, Google Slides skips the hidden slide entirely — it doesn’t appear on screen and doesn’t count toward the visible slide numbers your audience sees. However, in edit mode, all slides keep their original position numbers.
Can collaborators see skipped slides in a shared presentation?
Yes. Anyone with edit access to the file can see skipped slides in the editing panel — they’re visible to editors but hidden during the actual slideshow. If you need to hide content from editors too, that requires adjusting sharing permissions, not skipping slides.
Can I unskip slides on the Google Slides mobile app?
Yes, but with limited options. In the mobile app, tap and hold a slide in the panel to bring up the options menu, then look for the skip/unskip toggle. The experience is more limited than the desktop browser version — for bulk actions or precise control, use a desktop.
Will hidden slides print when I print the presentation?
By default, yes — Google Slides prints all slides including skipped ones. To exclude them, go to File → Print settings and preview and choose to print only the visible (non-skipped) slides.
Is “Skip slide” the same as hiding a slide in other tools?
Yes — Google Slides calls it “Skip slide” while PowerPoint calls it “Hide slide.” Both features do the same thing: keep the slide in the file but prevent it from appearing during a live presentation. The unskip/unhide process is also identical in both tools.
Wrapping Up
Unskipping a slide in Google Slides is a two-click fix — right-click the faded slide in the panel and choose Unskip slide. For multiple slides, hold Ctrl or Cmd, select them all, and unskip in one action. And if you prefer the menu route, Slide → Skip slide works as a toggle in both directions.
The skip feature is one of Google Slides’ most underrated tools — it gives you full flexibility to adapt your presentation on the fly without permanently losing any content.
Need a better starting point for your next presentation? Browse SlideEgg’s free Google Slides templates — professionally designed, fully editable, and ready in minutes.
For more tips, visit our Google Slides presentation tips and design tricks.
