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a 2-minute guide

How to add icons to Google Slides

Short answer

Download the icon as a PNG at 512 px, then in Slides choose InsertImageUpload from computer.

Time
2 min
Download
PNG
Size
512 px
Cost
Free

Which file should I download?

PNG · 512 px

Google Slides doesn’t accept SVG files, so use a PNG. 512 px stays sharp even when the icon fills half a slide. Going full-screen? Pick 1024 px.

Step by step

  1. Pick your icon and download it

    Open the icon library and search for what you need, for example “lightbulb”. Click the icon, choose a colour, then click Download PNG and pick 512 px. Our PNGs have a see-through background, so they sit nicely on any slide colour.

  2. Insert it into your slide

    In Google Slides, click the slide you want, then open InsertImageUpload from computer. Choose the PNG you just downloaded.

  3. Or just drag it in

    Faster: drag the file from your Downloads folder straight onto the slide. It lands where you drop it.

  4. Resize it

    Click the icon and drag a corner handle, not a side one, so it keeps its shape. For exact sizes use Format optionsSize & Rotation.

  5. Line it up

    Drag it into place. Slides shows red guide lines when the icon is centred or lined up with other things on the slide.

How to change the colour

The easy way: pick the colour on with icons before you download. Already in Slides? Select the icon and open Format optionsRecolor for a few tinted versions that match your theme.

How to resize it

Always drag a corner handle. A 512 px PNG looks sharp up to about half a slide wide; use 1024 px for anything bigger.

Something not working?

I can’t upload an SVG file.

Google Slides only takes images like PNG, JPG and GIF. Download the PNG version instead.

The icon looks blurry.

It was stretched past its size. Delete it and download a bigger PNG (1024 px).

There’s a white box behind the icon.

You probably used a screenshot or a JPG. Our PNG downloads are see-through; download the PNG again.

My icon is black on a dark slide.

Download it again in white (or any light colour) from the colour picker in the library.

Related guides

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a shortcut

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Click Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Grok. We copy a ready brief (“help me add an icon to my Google Slides project”) that points it to our skill file and this guide, and open it for you. Tell it what the icon is for: it finds the right one, then walks you through adding, recolouring and sizing it.

Ready? Find your icon.

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