PowerPoint - Selection Pane

When using PowerPoint, often you may have many objects overlapping one another. This can be a real pain because if you want to edit one that's underneath another, you can't get at it. You have to move the one on top out of the way temporarily and then reposition it after. Well actually you don't! There's an easier way to manage many objects on one slide - use the Selection Pane.


Turn on the Selection Pane
On the Home menu, far right:

Click Select | Selection Pane

The above is an example, it's from a slide I made where I had a number of different objects. I have renamed my objects so they make sense to me. You can do the same.

Opposite each object in the list is a little icon, an eye. The 'eye' is a switch, click to hide or show the object. For example, if things are really busy on your slide, click Hide All. Then click to show (un-hide) the object you wish to work on. 

When you are finished click Show All. 

Conclusion

It's a bit like layers in Adobe products. The Selection Pane is a life-saver!

PowerPoint Version?

I am using Excel 2013 but I'm pretty sure this feature was available in 2010 and even 2007. Maybe someone can confirm in the comments below, thanks! :-)