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Google Slides Make integrationAutomate Google Slides with Make.

Still copying client names into the same deck by hand? The Google Slides Make integration gives you 11 modules: one scheduled trigger, nine actions and one search. This guide is for teams that live in Slides and want Make to fill, update and read their decks.

Try the Google Slides integration on MakeSee the 11 modules

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What you can automate

What can the Google Slides Make integration do for you?

The Google Slides Make integration links your Google account to Make so a scenario (the automation you build in Make, a chain of steps) can create presentations from a template, add or remove slides, upload images and read what your decks contain. Each step is a module, one brick of the scenario, and no code is involved.

Proposals that write themselves. A client fills in your intake form, and Create a Presentation From a Template swaps the tags in your master deck for the client's name and email. The result is a new, personalized file in Drive.

One slide per new record. When a deck should grow instead of multiply, Create a Slide from a Template Slide adds a filled copy of a model slide inside an existing presentation. Think of a project tracker with one slide per launch.

Previews for other tools. Watch Presentations spots decks that were created or updated, and Get a Page/Thumbnail fetches a picture of a page that you can post elsewhere.

What the modules do not cover can be reached with Make an API Call, which calls the Google Slides API with the same connection. Google Slides also has an n8n node, described in the Google Slides n8n integration guide; the n8n vs Make comparison puts both tools side by side. To learn the editor properly, see Make training.

Connect

How do you connect Google Slides to Make?

  1. 01

    Add a Google Slides module

    In your scenario, click the +, search for Google Slides and pick any module. Then click Create a connection. A connection is your Google account linked to Make once and reused by every Google Slides module.

  2. 02

    Name it and sign in with Google

    Give the connection a name if you manage several accounts, for example one for sales and one for marketing. Make opens the Google sign-in window: choose the account whose Drive holds your presentations and allow access.

  3. 03

    Save and pick your deck

    Click Save. Back in the module, Make can now list the presentations it can read, so you choose your deck from a menu instead of hunting for its ID.

First scenario

Your first scenario: turn a new record into a ready deck

GoalWhen a new record lands in another app, Make fills your Google Slides template and creates a finished presentation.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    Open the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the +. Add the module of the app that holds your data, such as a form tool or a spreadsheet.

  2. 02

    Prepare the template

    In Google Slides, put tags where the client details should go in your master deck. Make replaces each tag with the value you send it, so name them clearly.

  3. 03

    Add Create a Presentation From a Template

    Click the + to the right of the first module, search Google Slides and choose Create a Presentation From a Template. Link your account with Create a connection and pick the template.

  4. 04

    Map the data to the tags

    For each tag, click the field and pick the matching value from the first module. Each bundle, one record passing from module to module, becomes one presentation.

  5. 05

    Test with Run once, then switch it on

    Click Run once and open the new deck in Drive to check every tag was replaced. Then set the schedule on the first module, every 15 minutes by default, and turn the scenario on.

Triggers

What can start a Google Slides scenario?

1 module starts a scenario when something happens in Google Slides. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by Google Slides as soon as it happens.

Google Slides1Watch Presentations

Watch Presentations

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new presentation is created or updated.”

On each scheduled check, you get one bundle per presentation created or changed in your account since the last check, so the rest of the scenario can react to fresh decks without anyone telling it.

How it fires
this is a scheduled trigger. Make checks Google Slides on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default and never faster than 15 minutes on the Free plan.
When to use it
a marketing team wants a thumbnail of every new or edited deck posted to a shared channel, with Get a Page/Thumbnail as the next step.
Watch out
an update also fires it, so a scenario that edits the same decks it watches will pick up its own changes again.
Modules

What can Make do in Google Slides?

Google Slides gives you 10 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Google Slides1

Add/Delete a Slide

Action

In Make“Creates an empty slide or delete an existing slide on the specified presentation.”

This module gives you an extra blank slide in a chosen presentation, or removes one that should no longer be there, all from inside the scenario.

When to use it
a status deck needs a fresh empty page before another module fills it, or an outdated slide has to go when a project closes.
Watch out
the same module adds and deletes, so test with Run once on a copy of the deck, not the live one.
Google Slides2

Create a Presentation From a Template

Action

In Make“Creates a new presentation by replacing all tags like e.g. {{!notfound:Name}}, {{!notfound:Email}} in a template with provided data.”

A complete, personalized deck is the result: Make copies your template and replaces its tags with the data you map, such as a name or an email address.

When to use it
every signed deal or new student should receive their own proposal or welcome deck, built from one master file.
Watch out
a tag spelled differently in the template stays untouched, so compare the tags with your mapped fields when you test.
Google Slides3

Create a Slide from a Template Slide

Action

In Make“Creates a new slide by representing all tags like e.g. {{!notfound:name}}, {{!notfound:email}} from a template slide within a specified presentation.”

Instead of a new file, you get one more filled slide in an existing presentation, copied from a model slide whose tags Make replaces with your data.

When to use it
a single team deck collects one slide per new hire, per product or per event, and should keep growing in the same place.
Watch out
pick this module over Create a Presentation From a Template only when everything must stay in one deck.
Google Slides4

Get a Page/Thumbnail

Action

In Make“Gets the latest version of a specified page or of the thumbnail of page in a presentation.”

You receive the latest version of one page of a presentation, or its thumbnail, ready to hand to the next module as a picture or as data.

When to use it
a new cover slide should appear as a preview in a chat tool, a newsletter or a project card without anyone taking a screenshot.
Watch out
it reads one page at a time, so decide which page matters before you map it.
Google Slides5

Get a Presentation

Action

In Make“Gets the latest version of specified presentation.”

With this module, the scenario reads the current state of one whole presentation and passes its details on to the modules that follow.

When to use it
right after Watch Presentations, when later steps need the latest version of the deck that just changed, read directly from Google Slides.
Watch out
it targets one deck you name; to go through many decks, start with List Presentations instead.
Google Slides6

Insert Links in a Presentation

Action

In Make“Makes all links in a presentation clickable or inserts a link into all matched input texts.”

Plain URLs typed on slides become real, clickable links, or a link you choose is attached to every piece of text that matches what you enter.

When to use it
a deck generated from a template shows web addresses as flat text, and readers should be able to click them in the shared version.
Watch out
it changes the presentation, which counts as an update for Watch Presentations.
Google Slides7

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Anything the Google Slides API offers becomes reachable here, through the same connection as the other modules, even when no ready-made module exists for it.

When to use it
a formatting or layout change you need is missing from this list and your team is comfortable reading the Google Slides API documentation.
Watch out
you write the request yourself, so test each call with Run once before you switch the scenario on.
Google Slides8

Refresh a Chart

Action

In Make“Refreshes the chart data stored in a presentation specified by ID.”

Charts inside a deck show current numbers again: the module refreshes the chart data held in the presentation you point it to by its ID.

When to use it
a board or sales deck carries charts that go stale, and the figures should be up to date right before someone opens it.
Watch out
you need the presentation ID, so place Get a Presentation or List Presentations earlier to fetch it.
Google Slides9

Upload an Image To a Presentation

Action

In Make“Uploads an image with URL to a presentation.”

A picture reachable by URL lands on your slide: logos, product photos or screenshots appear in the deck without a trip through the Slides editor.

When to use it
a proposal built from a template should also show the client's logo, taken from the link your form or CRM stores.
Watch out
the image must be available at a URL, and files on the Free plan are capped at 5 MB.
Google Slides10

List Presentations

Search

In Make“Retrieves a list of all presentations.”

Here the scenario collects the presentations in your account and sends each one on as its own bundle, which lets you act on a whole set of decks.

When to use it
an audit of every deck, or a chart refresh across all reports, needs a starting list rather than one named file.
Watch out
as a search, it can return zero, one or many bundles, and each module after it then uses one operation per deck.
Need help

Need help automating Google Slides with Make?

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FAQ

Google Slides and Make: frequent questions

01Is the Google Slides Make integration free?
Yes. Google Slides is a standard app in Make, so it works on the Free plan like more than 3,000 other standard apps. The Free plan has limits that matter here: 2 active scenarios, at least 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes of execution at most, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans (Core, Pro, Teams and Enterprise) bring the interval down to 1 minute, allow unlimited active scenarios and 40 minutes of execution. Usage is counted in operations, one run of one module on one bundle.
02What do you need to connect Google Slides to Make?
A Google account with your presentations stored in Google Drive is enough for the standard connection: add a Google Slides module, click Create a connection, sign in with Google and click Save. Teams that prefer their own client credentials can create a project in Google Cloud Platform and paste the Client ID and Client Secret into Make. That route requires the serviceusage.services.enable permission; without it, the project owner or an IAM admin has to grant it. Keep that project In production, or the connection must be reauthorized every week.
03Does the Google Slides trigger in Make work in real time?
No. Watch Presentations is a scheduled trigger, not an instant one. Make asks Google Slides for new or updated presentations each time the scenario runs, following the schedule set on the first module. A new scenario runs every 15 minutes by default, which is also the shortest interval on the Free plan; paid plans go down to 1 minute. If a scenario should start from something else, such as a form entry or a new row, put that app's module first and keep Google Slides for the actions that follow.
04What if a Google Slides module is missing in Make?
It depends on what you need, but most gaps can be closed with Make an API Call. This module reaches any endpoint of the Google Slides API with the connection you already have, so a formatting or layout change the 11 listed modules do not offer is still possible. You write the request yourself, following the Google Slides API documentation, and test it with Run once. For connection errors, such as a link that expires, check the publishing status of your Google Cloud project first.
05Should you use Make or n8n for Google Slides?
It depends on the tool your team already works in. On Make, Google Slides comes with 11 modules: one scheduled trigger, nine actions, one search, plus Make an API Call for the rest of the API. Google Slides also exists as an n8n node, covered by a dedicated guide on this site. Compare the modules each tool offers against the scenario you have in mind, since both connect to the same Google account. The n8n vs Make comparison linked above sets out the criteria without declaring a winner.
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