How do we find references to external image links in a PowerPoint file?
Here's the situation. I receive a PPT or PPTX file from a client. I open it on my computer and PowerPoint shows me a warning message:
"SECURITY WARNING References to external pictures have been blocked" (followed by a button to "Enable Content")
I know what this means… A graphical image was copied into the presentation not as an embedded picture stored in the PowerPoint file itself, but as a link to an external file. If I don't click the button to enable the content, it SHOULD cause an empty image placeholder with a red X to appear somewhere in the presentation on some slide. But I search through the presentation, slide by slide, and cannot find such a placeholder box. All the images look correct. I also carefully check the slide masters, handout master, and notes master. No images are found therein.
How can I find the place where PowerPoint thinks there is an external picture reference? I have done extensive Google searching on this issue and have found many cases of people asking the question, but no satisfactory answers.
Helpful respondents often get confused, thinking this is a problem with a hyperlink being attached to an image. That is not the case. There are utilities for finding all hyperlinks in a presentation. I tried one just to be on the safe side, and it found no such links. That's not what this warning message is about.
Do you know how to track down the source of the security warning so the image link can be replaced with a file-embedded image?
UPDATE - SOLVED!
Here are the steps to follow in order to find the problem images in your PowerPoint. I am using PowerPoint 2016, so the specifics may be different if you have an earlier version of the software. As always, MAKE A COPY AND WORK OFF THAT!!!!
1) Click "File" in the top command bar
2) Click "Edit Links to Files" towards the lower right of the file information and properties screen.
3) You will see a list that includes links of type "Picture"
4) Select each image link in turn and click "Change Source". Select a reasonably small, easily identifiable image from your own image library on your hard drive. Once all links are updated to your temporary graphic, close the Links menu and return to normal slide display.
5) Click through your slides, looking for your temporary graphic. This tells you where the original linked images were. You can now replace them with the correct local version of the original graphics (from your source version that you copied before beginning all this investigation).
My correspondent who solved the riddle does not want public acclaim. Instead, the person asked that I publicize a set of instructional videos in the Technobility Webinar Series. I am happy to do so. I'm delighted to have the solution in hand!
