Why does Keynote export a folder, not a file?
Because the HTML export is a small website, not a document. Keynote writes index.html, the page a browser opens, and an assets folder holding the slides, your video and audio, and the scripts that play the deck. The page needs every one of those files beside it, so they come as a folder. To share it, upload the whole folder (or a .zip of it) and send a link.
What is inside the folder
Open the export and you will find index.html at the top and an assets folder next to it. index.html is the page a browser loads. The assets folder holds what that page asks for: the slides, every embedded movie and sound, and Keynote's web player (in assets/player), which runs builds and transitions. Move index.html away from the assets folder and the deck will not play.
Why it has to be a folder
A browser cannot open a .key file. To play a deck in Safari or Chrome, Keynote has to turn it into things a browser understands: HTML, images, media files and JavaScript. A website is many files, so the export is many files. That is also why it keeps your animations when a PDF does not: the player in the folder runs them.
What to do with it
You cannot attach a folder to an email, and for anyone else to see it, it has to be on a web server. Linkdeck is that server: it checks that index.html is there and gives you a link that plays the deck in a browser. From your Mac, either:
- Drop the export folder on linkdeck.me, or click Choose folder. Your browser zips it first, then uploads it.
- Or zip it yourself: right-click the export folder itself (the one containing index.html) in the Finder, choose Compress, and upload the .zip.
Common mistakes
Sending only index.html: the deck does not load, because the files it needs stayed behind. Zipping the Desktop or another folder around the export: index.html can end up too deep, and the upload is refused. Renaming or deleting files in assets: parts of the deck go missing. If in doubt, export again and upload the fresh folder.
Questions
Can I open the export on my own Mac?
Yes. Open index.html in Safari and step through the deck before you upload. A slide, video or sound that is wrong there will be wrong at the link too, so fix it in Keynote and export again.
Can Keynote export a single HTML file instead?
No. Keynote's HTML export always writes a folder with index.html and an assets folder. Zip it if you need one file; Linkdeck also takes the folder as it is.
Does Linkdeck accept the folder without zipping?
Yes, from a computer: drop the export folder on linkdeck.me or click Choose folder, and your browser zips it before it uploads. A .zip of the folder works too. Free decks can be up to 200 MB, Pro decks up to 500 MB.
Turn the folder into a link
Drop the export folder, or a .zip of it, on linkdeck.me. The first deck is free and needs no account.
Free for 3 days. €9 once keeps one deck for good; €12 a month keeps every deck. See pricing