How to use your iPhone as a remote for Mac PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides
You are about to present from your Mac and you would rather walk the room than stand next to it. Your iPhone is in your pocket. Whether it can click the slides depends on which app the slides are in.
Short answer: For Keynote, the free Keynote Remote built into Keynote for iPhone links to Keynote on your Mac over Wi-Fi with a four-digit code. For PowerPoint and Google Slides, which have no iPhone-to-Mac remote in the Microsoft and Google help pages we read, MightyMouse turns your iPhone into a trackpad and keyboard for your Mac, so you can send the arrow keys that advance the slides.
Search for this and you get a mix of old how-tos and App Store listings. The honest picture is that it splits by app. Apple built a remote for Keynote. Microsoft and Google did not document one for a presentation running on a Mac. Below is what each company says on its own pages, then a route that works with anything that responds to the keyboard.
Keynote: the iPhone remote Apple already built
If your slides are in Keynote, stop here and use Apple's own remote. Apple's Keynote Remote page says Keynote Remote is included with Keynote for iPhone and iPad, and lists the requirements: an iPhone with Keynote 2.1 or later, a Mac with Keynote 6.1 or later, and Wi-Fi turned on for both devices. As of October 2026 that is what Apple documents.
The steps, from Apple's Keynote for Mac guide and the support page above:
- On your iPhone, open Keynote, tap the Keynote Remote button, and tap Continue. If iOS asks whether Keynote can find and connect to devices on your local network, allow it.
- On your Mac, open Keynote, then open Keynote settings from the Keynote menu.
- Click Remote at the top of the settings window and select Enable.
- Click Link next to your iPhone.
- Check that the four-digit code on the Mac matches the one on the iPhone, then click Confirm.
- Open your presentation on the Mac. On the iPhone, tap Play, then swipe to move between slides.
Apple also lists a Highlighter button for pointing at parts of a slide and a Layout button to change what the remote shows, and says you can end the show by tapping Close or swiping down with two fingers.
Keynote remote not working: what Apple actually says to check
Apple's page has no dedicated troubleshooting section, so this list is only what the page and the Mac guide state. If a third-party blog gives you more, treat it as someone's guess rather than Apple's word.
- Wi-Fi must be on for both devices. Apple's first linking step is turning on Wi-Fi on the iPhone and the Mac.
- Put both on the same Wi-Fi network. Apple's page says: "If your devices can't stay connected, connect both devices to the same Wi-Fi network." The Mac guide adds that the remote uses Multipeer Connectivity, which can connect over Wi-Fi when the devices are close together even on different networks, and suggests the same network if you have trouble with older devices or Macs.
- Allow the local network prompt. The Mac guide says to allow Keynote to find and connect to devices on your local network if iOS prompts. If you tapped Don't Allow once, the remote can fail to find your Mac, and the switch lives in the iPhone's privacy settings under Local Network.
- Check the versions. Apple lists Keynote 2.1 or later on the iPhone and Keynote 6.1 or later on the Mac.
- Make sure Remote is enabled on the Mac. In Keynote settings, Remote has an Enable checkbox. If it is off, the iPhone has nothing to link to.
- Match the four-digit code. If the code on the Mac and the iPhone differ, do not confirm. Start the link again.
Apple also suggests turning on Do Not Disturb before you play a slideshow, so a notification does not land on the audience's screen. Beyond that list Apple gives no further fix, and I will not invent one.
PowerPoint: what Microsoft documents (and what it does not)
The Microsoft page closest to this is Present a slide show from a smartphone and use a laser pointer. It covers PowerPoint for iPhone running the show itself: you open the presentation on the phone, tap Edit, the ellipsis, then Home and Slide Show, and send it to a projector by HDMI adapter or wirelessly with AirPlay, Chromecast or Miracast. The laser pointer is your finger resting on the screen.
That is the phone presenting, not the phone steering a PowerPoint that is open on your Mac. The page does not mention Mac, and in the Microsoft pages I read I found no iPhone-to-Mac remote for PowerPoint. So I will not tell you PowerPoint has one.
What exists are third-party apps. One example is Clicker, which describes itself on its App Store listing as an iPhone remote for Keynote and PowerPoint on a Mac. As of October 2026 the listing shows $5.99, needs a companion app installed on the Mac, and its version history says it moved from Multipeer Connectivity to Bluetooth and later fixed Bluetooth connection drops and delays. Reviews on the listing include people who could not get it to connect. That is one paid option, not a verdict; read the current reviews before you buy.
Google Slides: keys on the computer, not a remote
Google's Present slides page describes the computer side this way: click Slideshow in the top right, use the right and left arrow keys or the arrows at the bottom to move, and press Esc to stop presenting. Presenter view, with speaker notes, is under the arrow next to Slideshow.
Google's help pages cover presenting from the Slides app on the phone, casting, and controlling Slides inside a Google Meet call. The pages I read do not describe an iPhone remote for Slides open in a browser on your Mac. But Google does document that the arrow keys move the show, and that fact is the opening for the next route.
The route that works with any app: your iPhone as the Mac's trackpad and keyboard
Every slide app on a Mac, including PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides in a browser, a PDF in Preview and a web deck, moves forward on a key press. Right arrow or space goes forward, left arrow goes back, Escape ends the show. So the general fix is not an app-specific remote. It is a way to press those keys from across the room.
MightyMouse turns your iPhone into a trackpad, keyboard and live view of your Mac. The control page is served from the Mac to Safari on your iPhone, so there is nothing to install on the phone. Setup is once:
- Open MightyMouse on your Mac and go to Settings. A QR code appears.
- Point your iPhone camera at the code and tap the notification. Safari shows a certificate warning once. Tap through it and the control page opens.
- Open your slides on the Mac and start the show as you normally would.
- On the iPhone, tap the keyboard button. The default iPhone keyboard has no arrow keys, so turn on On-screen keyboard in the control page settings, or tap the swap button, to get the Mac-style keyboard with arrows, a space bar, Esc, Tab and Return.
- Tap the right arrow or space to go forward, the left arrow to go back, and Esc to end the show.
That Mac-style keyboard mirrors a Mac laptop keyboard, which means the arrows sit in the bottom right corner where your thumb expects them. There are also quick buttons for Esc, Tab and Return on the control page, so ending a show is one tap with no keyboard open.
Because the same page is a trackpad, you also get a pointer for free. One finger drags the cursor, one tap clicks, two fingers scroll, and two fingers tapping right-clicks. That covers the things a slide clicker never could: clicking a link in a slide, pressing play on an embedded video, or dismissing a stray dialog. The full gesture list is in the iPhone trackpad guide, and the key side is covered in the iPhone keyboard guide.
Seeing the current slide from the back of the room
A key press is blind: you do not know the slide landed unless you can see the screen. In the Screen section of the control page settings there is a Show my Mac screen switch. Turn it on and the iPhone shows a live picture of your Mac. The mirror guide covers it in full. For presenting, it means you can check the slide and the cursor from wherever you are standing. Only the phone can start the mirror, never the Mac.
Presenting with a projector or second display
This is the case to plan for. The mirror shows your Mac's main display, the one macOS treats as main in System Settings, Displays. There is no way to pick a different display from the phone.
If your Mac extends its desktop to the projector and the slides play there, the iPhone shows your laptop screen instead, which is often the presenter view. That can be fine, since presenter view shows the current slide. If you want the phone to show exactly what the room sees, set the Mac to mirror the projector so both screens show one picture, or make the projector the main display. Try this before the audience arrives.
What this costs you and where it falls short
- It is not a purpose built clicker. There is no slide counter, notes or timer on the phone. Keynote Remote has a Highlighter and its own layout; this route trades them for working with every app.
- Small lag. The tap travels from the phone to your Mac and the picture travels back. On the same Wi-Fi it is small enough to ignore. A slide advance is a single key, so it rarely matters. Moving a cursor over a weak connection is where you notice it.
- It needs a network path. Phone and Mac must reach each other. Free and unlimited on your own Wi-Fi. Away from home it runs over cellular with a free monthly allowance. Conference Wi-Fi that isolates devices from each other is a risk for any phone remote, including Keynote Remote, so test on the venue network or bring a hotspot.
- Mac only. The app runs on macOS. Your phone is the controller; the slides have to be on a Mac.
- It cannot wake a sleeping Mac or get past a locked screen. Set your Mac to stay awake before you present.
- No pinch to zoom. Pinch is switched off in the control page. Use the Mac's own zoom if the audience needs it.
- Pick a display carefully. The mirror always shows the main display, so check which display is main before you present.
Which one should you use?
- Slides in Keynote: Keynote Remote. It is free, made by Apple, and the Highlighter and swipe controls are built for the job.
- Slides in PowerPoint or Google Slides, or a PDF: the keyboard route, because Microsoft and Google do not document an iPhone remote for a show on your Mac.
- You also want to click, scroll and answer a Slack message mid-talk: the keyboard and trackpad route, because it is the whole computer rather than just a slide clicker.
- You want presenter notes on the phone: look at a dedicated clicker app, and read its current reviews first.
If a slide clicker is one piece of a bigger want, running your computer from another room, controlling your Mac from your iPhone covers the whole picture. And if you are weighing a phone remote app from the App Store, how MightyMouse compares with Remote Mouse lays out the trade between an app you install and a page you open.
Advance your slides from your iPhone, in any app on your Mac.
No app to install on the phone. No card to try it.
Common questions
Can I use my iPhone as a remote for PowerPoint on a Mac?
Microsoft's own support page on this describes PowerPoint for iPhone running a show itself and sending it to a projector, and does not describe an iPhone remote for a PowerPoint open on a Mac. You can send the arrow keys from your iPhone with a trackpad and keyboard tool such as MightyMouse, or use a third-party clicker app.
How do I use my iPhone as a Keynote remote?
Turn on Wi-Fi on both devices. On the iPhone open Keynote and tap the Keynote Remote button. On the Mac, open Keynote settings, click Remote, select Enable, click Link next to the iPhone, then confirm that the four-digit code matches on both. Then start the show and swipe on the iPhone to change slides.
Why is my Keynote remote not working?
Apple's page lists these checks: Wi-Fi on for both devices, both on the same Wi-Fi network if they keep disconnecting, local network access allowed for Keynote on the iPhone, Remote enabled in Keynote settings on the Mac, a matching four-digit code, and Keynote 2.1 or later on the iPhone and 6.1 or later on the Mac.
Does Google Slides have an iPhone remote for a Mac?
The Google help pages we read describe moving slides with the arrow keys and ending with Esc on a computer, and presenting from the Slides app on a phone. They do not describe an iPhone remote for a show on a Mac. An iPhone trackpad and keyboard tool can send the arrow keys.
Can I see the current slide on my iPhone while I present?
Yes, with MightyMouse. Turn on Show my Mac screen on the control page and the iPhone shows a live view of the Mac's main display. With a projector, mirror your displays if you want the phone to show exactly what the room sees.
Does a phone slide remote work over cellular?
Keynote Remote is documented around Wi-Fi. MightyMouse works free on your own Wi-Fi, and away from home it can run over cellular with a free monthly allowance. Either way your phone and Mac need some network path to each other.
Want to click through slides in any app from across the room? MightyMouse turns your iPhone into a trackpad, keyboard and live screen for your Mac, with nothing to install on the phone.