Install Flat Pack for Mac

Here’s how to install Flat Pack for Mac: run the installer, load the add-in into PowerPoint, and enter your license. At the end you’ll have a Flat Pack tab in the PowerPoint ribbon, ready to flatten and secure files. You need Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 or newer.

Download and run the installer

1. Go to the Flat Pack for Mac download page.
2. In the list of versions, download the latest one. It’s a .pkg file.
3. Double-click the downloaded .pkg file to start the Flat Pack installer.
4. Click Next, then Finish to complete the installation.

Caution

If macOS blocks the installer with a warning that it can’t be opened, open System Preferences → Security & Privacy and set Allow apps downloaded from to App Store and identified developers, then run the .pkg again.

Check the installer created its folders

The installer adds two folders to your Documents folder. Confirm they’re there before moving on.

1. Open Finder and go to your Documents folder.
2. Look for two new folders: PowerPoint Add-ins and Flat Pack Secured Files.

If you don’t see them, a reboot occasionally fixes it. You can also right-click the Finder icon, click Go to folder…, and type ~/Documents/PowerPoint Add-Ins/ (note the hyphen in Add-Ins).

Load the add-in into PowerPoint

This manual step is only needed the first time you install. Later upgrades don’t need it.

1. Open PowerPoint.
2. Go to Tools → PowerPoint Add-ins.
3. Click the +.
4. Go to your Documents folder → PowerPoint Add-ins (or Recent → Add-ins).
5. Choose the FlatPack.ppam file.
6. If a security warning appears, choose Enable Macros so PowerPoint can run the Flat Pack add-in.

A Flat Pack tab now appears in the PowerPoint ribbon.

If you get an error adding FlatPack.ppam, or the tab appears but its buttons won’t click, PowerPoint most likely needs updating. See the FAQ for the exact fix.

Enter your license

Without a license, Flat Pack runs in preview mode and only generates the first three slides.

1. Click the Flat Pack tab → Preferences → License Setting.
2. Enter your license. It’s in your downloads folder in the license file (License.pdf), or in your purchase email.

Set your PDF password and image quality

1. Go to the Flat Pack tab → Preferences → PDF Settings.
2. Change the default CHANGEME owner’s password to one of your own.
3. While you’re there, adjust Image Settings for the image quality you want.

Apple Silicon Macs: one required step

If you have an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, or M4 chip), there’s one more required step: PowerPoint must run in Rosetta mode, or Flat Pack won’t work. This is the single most common reason Flat Pack fails on a Mac.

Follow the Apple Silicon setup guide →

Updating Flat Pack later

Once Flat Pack is loaded, upgrading is much simpler than the first install: just download the latest version from the download page, close PowerPoint, and run the new installer. It installs the latest version automatically. You don’t repeat the manual add-in step. Your license and settings are kept.

For the general update flow across Bearwood Labs add-ins, see Updating an add-in.