How to send a Keynote presentation on WhatsApp
WhatsApp will carry a .key file, but the person who receives it needs Keynote to open it, and on Android there is no Keynote at all. A PDF arrives without the builds and the video. A link arrives as a preview in the chat and plays the deck when tapped.
What each format becomes in WhatsApp
| You send | What they get | Animations and video |
|---|---|---|
| .key as a document | A file that needs Keynote; nothing on Android | Only in Keynote |
| Pages to scroll | No | |
| Screen recording | A video WhatsApp may compress | Plays, but no tapping through |
| Linkdeck link | A preview card; the deck opens in the browser | Yes |
Send it as a link in four steps
- In Keynote for Mac: File → Export To → HTML.
- Right-click the export folder and choose Compress.
- Upload the .zip on linkdeck.me and copy the link.
- Paste it into the chat or the group.
What the chat shows
WhatsApp turns the link into a preview with the deck's title and a square card carrying your studio name, which you set under Identity in the dashboard. The preview never shows a slide, so nothing confidential leaks into a group. The title is what you type at upload, or the .zip's file name, so name it before you upload.
What they see when they tap
The deck opens in their browser. They turn the phone sideways and tap to advance. Builds and transitions play, clips play inside the slide, and sound starts on the first tap. No Keynote, no Apple ID, nothing to download.
Groups, forwarding and how long it lasts
A free link stops working after 3 days (24 hours if you upload without an account): fine for a quick share, wrong for a deck pinned in a group. Pro, €12 a month, keeps the link permanent. It also adds an email gate, so you see who in the group opened it, a password, so a forward does not reach strangers, and time per slide.
Questions
Is there a size limit?
Not on the message: the link is a few characters and the deck stays on Linkdeck. The upload itself can be 200 MB on Free and 500 MB on Pro.
Does it work in WhatsApp on Android?
Yes. The link opens in the phone's browser and the deck plays the same way it does on an iPhone.
Can I send it from my iPhone?
Keynote for Mac makes the HTML export. Once the deck is uploaded, open your dashboard on the phone, copy the link and paste it into WhatsApp.
Send the deck, not the file
Export to HTML, compress, upload, paste the link into the chat. The first deck is free and needs no account.