How to export a Keynote presentation as a movie
A movie plays anywhere and keeps every build at the timing you set. It also takes the clicking away from the person watching. Here's how to export one, which format to pick, and when a link fits better.
The export
In Keynote on your Mac, open the deck and choose File → Export To → Movie. Then:
- Playback: Self-Playing moves to the next slide or build after the intervals you enter. Builds set to follow a previous build or transition keep their own timing. If you recorded a narration, choose Slideshow Recording and the movie follows your recording instead.
- Slides: export all of them, or choose From and enter a range.
- Resolution: pick a preset, or Custom and enter your own size.
- Advanced Options: frame rate, movie format, color space, and transparent slide backgrounds.
- Click Save, name the file and choose where it goes.
Which format to pick
Apple lists two movie types for Keynote: MOV, in Apple ProRes or HEVC, on Mac, iPhone and iPad; and M4V, in H.264, on the Mac only. There's no .mp4 in that list.
H.264 is the one Apple calls most compatible, so if you don't know what they'll play it on, pick that. HEVC gives the smallest files for the quality, but older Apple devices can't play it: for HEVC movies in a deck, Apple names iOS 11, iPadOS 13 and macOS 10.13 or later. ProRes is for editing: Apple's target rate for ProRes 422 is about 147 Mbps at 1080p and 29.97 fps, which by our arithmetic is roughly 1.1 GB a minute. Keep it for handing film to an editor.
What a movie keeps, and what it loses
It keeps every build and transition, played at the timing you set. Apple's guide to sending a presentation says the movie can include the audio in your presentation, and a recorded narration comes along when you export with Slideshow Recording. Play the file once before you send it, with the sound on.
What it loses:
- Links. A movie is a recording, so a hyperlink or a linked object that jumps to another slide does nothing.
- The viewer's pace. They can't hold a build, skip to the pricing slide or go back two slides to check a number, except by scrubbing.
- Easy changes. Every fix means exporting and sending the whole movie again.
When a movie is the right file
Often, and then you don't need a link at all:
- A loop on a screen: a lobby, a shop window, a trade-show stand.
- A post on social media or a video site.
- A festival, a competition or a portal that asks for a video file.
When a link suits better
A pitch, a treatment or a proposal that someone should click through at their own pace, pause on, and open on a phone without downloading a large file first. Export to HTML instead and send a link: builds run on their taps, film plays inside the slide, and hyperlinks work. Every way to send a Keynote compares the options side by side.
You can also do both: the link for the person deciding, the movie for the screen in their office.
Questions
Can Keynote export an MP4?
Not by that name. Apple lists M4V in H.264 on the Mac, and MOV in ProRes or HEVC on Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Does the movie keep the sound?
Apple says a movie export can include the audio in your presentation, and a recorded narration comes along with Slideshow Recording. Play the exported file once with the sound on before you send it.
Why is my Keynote movie so big?
Check the format first. ProRes is made for editing and runs at about 147 Mbps at 1080p and 29.97 fps by Apple's figure. Export with H.264 or HEVC, or at a lower resolution, for a file you mean to send.
Can I export a movie on iPhone or iPad?
Yes. Movie is one of the export formats in Keynote on iPhone and iPad, as MOV in ProRes or HEVC.
Need them to click through it?
Export to HTML instead, drop the folder on Linkdeck and send a link that plays the real deck on any device.
Free for 3 days. €9 once keeps one deck for good; €12 a month keeps every deck. See pricing