How to Use a Clicker with Google Slides

Google Slides is the odd one out among presentation software: it runs in a browser tab rather than as a standalone application, which changes how a google slides clicker actually has to work. A clicker built for desktop apps like PowerPoint cannot just assume focus the same way, it has to find the right browser tab first, among however many other tabs happen to be open. Here is how that works and how to set it up properly.

Why Google Slides needs a different approach

PowerPoint and Keynote are native applications with direct APIs a clicker can hook into. Google Slides is a web page, which means control has to happen at the browser level, either by simulating keystrokes into the right tab or by talking to the page directly through a browser extension.

Cliqer supports both, with native browser automation as the default and an optional extension for a smoother experience. Full technical detail lives in our Google Slides docs, this post covers the practical side of getting it running.

Native support: how it finds your Slides tab

On Windows

Cliqer uses Windows Script Host to detect running browsers, locate the window showing Google Slides by its title, activate it, and send the keyboard shortcut for next or previous slide, then it is done. This works across Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi.

On macOS

Cliqer uses AppleScript to search open browser tabs for a docs.google.com/presentation URL, activate the matching tab, send the key event, then return focus to whatever application you were using before. This works across Arc, Chrome, Safari and Edge.

Setting it up

1. Open your presentation in Google Slides using a supported browser.
2. Start presentation mode, or leave it in edit mode if you prefer.
3. In the Cliqer app, select "Google Slides" as your active software.
4. Connect your presenter device using the room link or QR code.
5. Control your slides as normal, Cliqer finds and drives the tab automatically.

The optional browser extension

For a smoother experience with no visible focus switching, Cliqer offers an optional browser extension. Installing it unlocks:

Cliqer prompts you to install the extension when you select Google Slides in settings, and keeps it updated automatically alongside app updates.

Edit mode vs presentation mode

You do not have to be in full presentation mode for Cliqer to control Google Slides, it works in edit mode too, since detection is based on the tab's URL rather than a specific fullscreen state. That is handy for rehearsals, where you want to click through a deck without going fullscreen every time you check timing, or for training sessions where you narrate through slides while leaving comments visible to a co-presenter watching the same screen.

Working across multiple presenters

If more than one person needs to control the same Google Slides deck, for example handing off between speakers on a panel, each presenter connects with their own device to the same Cliqer room. There is no limit on how many people can hold a link, only on how many should be actively clicking at once. For a fuller look at coordinating multiple speakers on one deck, see multi-host presentations.

Common issues and fixes

Google Slides vs PowerPoint and Keynote clickers

The end result looks the same to your audience, slides advance when you tap next, but the mechanism underneath is genuinely different from controlling PowerPoint or controlling Keynote, both of which talk to a native desktop app rather than a browser tab. If your team presents across a mix of software, that difference is invisible from the presenter's side, the same phone and the same link work regardless of which one is running underneath. For the bigger picture on why internet-based control handles all of this consistently, see what is an internet clicker, and for a full rundown of every option out there, hardware, phone or internet: presentation clickers compared.

Go deeper

FAQ

Control your Google Slides deck properly

Whether you use native automation or the extension, Cliqer's Google Slides support is free to try. Install it from the download page, or check the pricing page if you already know you want the full toolkit including screen share, timer and laser pointer alongside your clicker.