How to fix pixelated text in Keynote slideshows on macOS Sequoia?

Question

How to fix pixelated text in Keynote slideshows on macOS Sequoia?

Hi everyone!

I’m using Keynote (Version 15.1.1 (7044.0.273)) on OS Sequoia 15.7.4, and I’m seeing some weird text blurring/pixelation when I play the slideshow. It’s sporadic and keeps changing: text that was blurry sometimes appears normal, while other chunks of text or graphics become blurry. I’ve noticed it mostly with page numbers on some slides, but occasionally with other words or graphics. I’ve read that this can happen when text sits “between pixels,” so I tried moving and scaling items in the Arrange tab, but that didn’t fix it. Does anybody have an idea what might be going on and how to fix it before an important presentation? Thank you!!

1) slideshow from the editing mode - page number looks good

2) slide show from slideshow mode - page number is pixelated

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Pixalated text in keynote

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Apr 7, 2026 7:45 PM

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Answer 1

Camelot

Level 9

60,611 points

Apr 9, 2026 10:54 AM in response to keynote_user1

Are there any transitions, animations, or other effects added to the elements that are affected?

How big is the presentation(s) in question? Does this happen with small, newly created presentations too? or just larger ones?

The fact it works fine outside of Keynote hints at some kind of performance-related issue, which is why the size of the presentation may be a factor, but I haven't yet seen this myself).

Do you have another machine you can run the presentation on, at least temporarily, to see if it happens there, too?

Clearly I don't have an answer.... just trying to dig in to uncover what's going on :)

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Answer 2

Camelot

Level 9

60,611 points

Apr 8, 2026 12:35 PM in response to keynote_user1

I can't say I've experienced this... and I highly doubt that sub-pixel alignment is the issue - that used to be an issue on low-resolution screens (think: 72 ppi CRTs), but modern displays are far, far denser than that (typically 200-250 ppi), so the per-pixel width is trivial and not likely to be noticeable - that is, unless you're projecting the presentation to an old, or low-density ppi display, but it looks like you're showing screenshots from your MacBook Pro...?

Does it only affect the page numbers?

Is it consistent (always on specific slides/presentations)?

Is the text in question specific to each slide? or is it on the master slide? Is it the actual page number marker? or some text you've placed directly?

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Answer 3

Apr 8, 2026 6:28 PM in response to Camelot

Thank you for responding, I’m still trying to figure this out. I’m working and presenting directly from my MacBook, and the issue only appears in slideshow mode. When I’m editing the slides, everything looks completely fine.

The glitches are inconsistent and seem to affect specific slides. Most often, I notice it with the slide numbers (added using “Show Slide Numbers” from the menu), but occasionally other text and even some graphs become pixelated as well. What’s strange is that the affected elements can change, something that looked off before might appear normal later, and vice versa.

When I export the file to PowerPoint, everything looks perfectly normal there, no blurring, so seems like a Keynote-specific thing...

Another example of text

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Answer 4

rakcen

Level 1

8 points

Jun 17, 2026 7:16 AM in response to keynote_user1

Any updates? Having the same problem...

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