Keynote to PDF
Someone sent you a .key file and there is no Keynote on your computer. Upload it here and get a PDF with one slide per page that opens anywhere, with the presenter notes underneath if you want them.
Convert to PDF
or drop DOC, DOCX, DOCM … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Convert the whole document or only some pages, slides or sheets.
Pages or slides to keep, e.g. 1-3, 5, 8-10. Numbers refer to the original document.
Source margins keep the document's own layout. Narrow is 12.7 mm, normal 25.4 mm, wide 50.8 mm left and right.
Excel, ODS and Numbers files: convert every sheet, or only the one that was open when the file was saved.
JPEG quality for photos inside the document. 90 looks identical to the source; lower it to make the PDF smaller.
Leave empty for no password. If set, the PDF asks for it before opening. Not available with PDF/A.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the .key file
Add the presentation, or up to 20 at once, each up to 95 MB. If Windows shows the .key as a folder, read the package note on this page first.
- 2
Decide on notes and slides
Under Advanced settings, tick Include speaker notes for a handout, or set Pages to Page range such as 1-12 to keep only part of the deck.
- 3
Convert to PDF
Press Convert to PDF. Each slide becomes one page at the deck's own aspect ratio; uploads are deleted after 30 minutes.
Keynote files do not open in PowerPoint, Google Slides or Windows at all. A PDF is the quickest way to read, print or submit the slides without Apple software.
Why a Keynote file won't open outside Apple devices
Apple released Keynote in January 2003, and it still ships free on every Mac, iPad and iPhone. Since the iWork rewrite of 2013 its files store slides in Apple's own compressed IWA format, which Apple has never documented, inside a ZIP container or a macOS package folder. PowerPoint and Google Slides cannot import current .key files, so anyone outside Apple's apps sees an unknown file type.
That is a problem on the receiving end: a conference portal that only takes PDF, a teacher grading on a Chromebook, or a client who opens attachments on Android. Converting here takes the deck as it is, without a Mac and without signing in to anything.
Keynote export, Keynote for iCloud or this converter
Export from Keynote
File, Export To, PDF on a Mac; the More menu, then Export on iPad and iPhone.
- Options for presenter notes, skipped slides and build stages
- Uses the exact fonts of the deck
- Needs the app and the original file
Keynote for iCloud
Apple's web version at icloud.com opens .key files and can download a copy as PDF.
- Works on Windows
- Requires an Apple Account
- The deck is uploaded to your iCloud Drive
Upload here
Convert the .key file directly, with optional speaker notes and a slide range.
- No account and no Apple software
- Up to 20 decks in one batch
- Fonts missing on the server are substituted
Keynote to PDF in numbers
- Keynote 1.0 released for Mac OS X
- 2003
- iWork rewrite moved .key files to the IWA format
- 2013
- Keynote decks per batch here
- 20
- Largest deck per file
- 95 MB
Video-heavy decks run past 95 MB quickly, because the movies are stored inside the file. If yours is larger, ask the author to remove the movies or reduce their size in Keynote before sending. A finished PDF with many full-screen photos can still be large; Compress PDF brings it down for email at a small cost in image sharpness.
KEY
Apple Keynote presentation
KEY is the file format of Apple Keynote, the presentation app Apple introduced in 2003. It supports polished themes, cinematic transitions, Magic Move animations and embedded media. Only Apple devices open .key files natively; PowerPoint, Google Slides and Windows need a converted copy. Keynote can export to PPTX, PDF and video, though some effects may be simplified.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- –
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 2003 · Apple
Portable Document Format
PDF was created by Adobe in 1993 and became the open ISO 32000 standard in 2008. It fixes text, fonts, images and layout so a document looks the same on every screen and printer. PDFs can contain forms, signatures, links, attachments and searchable text, and the PDF/A variant is used for long-term archiving. The fixed layout makes PDFs hard to edit, and scanned PDFs contain only images unless OCR is applied. Every browser and operating system can open them.
- Compression
- –
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- No
- Introduced
- 1993 · Adobe
A .key presentation only opens in Apple's Keynote, on a Mac, iPad, iPhone or in iCloud, so conference organizers, teachers and Windows colleagues often cannot view it at all; a PDF puts every slide on a page that any device reads.
Keynote to PDF questions
Why does my .key file look like a folder on Windows?
Keynote can save a presentation as a package, a folder that macOS displays as one file. Copied to Windows or a USB stick, it shows up as a folder that cannot be uploaded as a single document. Ask the sender to choose File, Advanced, Change File Type, Single File in Keynote and send it again.
What happens to builds and animations in the PDF?
A PDF page cannot animate, so each slide is shown in its finished state with every build in place. Keynote's own PDF export can instead print each stage of builds as separate pages, which is worth asking the author for when a slide reveals an answer step by step.
Do videos embedded in the Keynote deck play in the PDF?
No. Movies and audio stay behind, and the slide shows a still frame or the placeholder where the video sat. Ask for the media files separately, or put a link to an online copy in the slide notes before converting.
Can I edit the slides in PowerPoint instead?
Convert the deck with Keynote to PPTX instead. PowerPoint opens the result for editing, though Keynote-specific transitions and some fonts get replaced. Choose the PDF when the slides only need to be read, printed or submitted.
Why do the slide titles use a different typeface?
Keynote themes lean on fonts that ship with macOS. When a font is not available to the converter, a similar one replaces it and long titles may wrap differently. If the look matters, ask the sender for a PDF exported in Keynote or for a deck that uses common fonts.
Can a Keynote deck and a Pages document go in one batch?
Yes. Both are accepted together, and each file comes back as its own PDF; the Pages to PDF page explains what to expect from the document side.