You can alter the general map color – everything that you’ve not selected as a highlight country – by using the fill color options. There are some other quirks that we’ve found, that are at the bottom of the article, but this is probably more of a feature request, than an issue. At the moment, it’s only one, so you can’t have two color sets on the same map, which is a shame. As the map only has a single data series, choosing any of the colorful themes is somewhat pointless, and if you’d like to alter the color of the country highlights, then choose a monochromatic color theme for the map.Īs an aside, and as a wish for future iterations of this, it would be great if the map supported multiple data series. You can also alter the color of the map, all of which is based on your color theme. You can click on the brush icon on the right of the chart to change the style, which is useful if you want to show the outlines of each state or country. Once you have your map laid out, you have a couple of additional options, all of which are what you’d expect from a chart. Simply add the country name, add a number to the data series, and you’ll see it highlighted on the world map – all using the standard PowerPoint maps function. If you type countries into the map, it expands, showing the appropriate geographical area, which might just focus on a region, or show the entire world map. You can add in any state, or even specific zip codes, and you’ll highlight the areas on the PowerPoint map. Things get interesting here, because you can type places into the Excel, like Massachusetts and Florida, for instance, put a value next to them, and then PowerPoint generates a US map highlighting those two states with a color heatmap based on the numbers you put in the Excel. You get a map template and an Excel sheet. Half-way down the list, buried in the bars, lines, and radar charts, you find PowerPoint maps. Head on over to the Insert tab on the ribbon, and then Charts, on the left of center. But, as with many things Microsoft, they’re tricky to find. What’s really neat, is that Office 365 has maps for PowerPoint built-in. If you want to see PowerPoint maps in action, watch my summary video below, then keep reading for more insights, use cases, and limitations: PowerPoint maps are great tools to tell visual stories – showing locations around the world and how they might all connect, global route maps for travel or logistics and different options, or really anything in the universe that you can show on some kind of map.

How to add a world map to transcad