The night-before document
PowerPoint to study guide
Upload the lecture deck and get a study guide with objectives, key terms, notes by topic, review questions and a one-page summary. About 30 seconds, free, no account.
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PowerPoint (.pptx) or PDF · up to 20 MB · 80 slides
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Free · no account · 3 decks a day · files are never stored
A study guide is the one document to read when the exam is tomorrow: what you are expected to know, the terms you will be asked to define, the content organised by topic rather than by slide, questions to test yourself, and a summary you can read on the bus. Nuutli builds exactly that from a PowerPoint, PDF or Google Slides deck. The learning objectives are drawn from what the slides actually teach, every key term gets the definition the deck gave it, the topic notes keep the lecturer's numbers and examples, and the review questions mix recall with the analytical kind that turn up in essays. It downloads as a Word document, so you can add your own notes before printing.
Quick facts
What you get, in one list
- Price
- Free. 3 decks a day, no account, no card.
- Sign-up
- None. Upload and read the notes.
- Works on
- Any browser: Mac, Windows, Chromebook, iPad, phone.
- Input
- PowerPoint (.pptx), PDF, or a Google Slides share link. Speaker notes are read too.
- Output
- Word (.docx), Markdown, PDF via print, or copy to clipboard.
- Limits
- Up to 80 slides and 20 MB per deck on the free tier.
- Time
- About 30 seconds for a typical lecture.
- Privacy
- Files are processed in memory and never stored. Nothing is used for training.
- Languages
- Notes come back in the language of the slides: English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic and more.
Real example
A cell biology deck turned into a study guide
Three slides on cell division became the objectives, key terms and review questions below (notes-by-topic section shortened here).
Slides in
- Slide 2: Mitosis: phases
- - Prophase: chromosomes condense, nuclear envelope breaks down
- - Metaphase: chromosomes line up at the metaphase plate
- - Anaphase: sister chromatids pulled to opposite poles
- - Telophase: nuclear envelopes re-form; cytokinesis follows
- Slide 3: Checkpoints
- - G1 checkpoint: cell size, nutrients, DNA damage (p53)
- - G2 checkpoint: DNA replication complete?
- - M checkpoint: all chromosomes attached to spindle
- Slide 4: Mitosis vs meiosis
- - Mitosis: 1 division, 2 identical diploid cells, growth and repair
- - Meiosis: 2 divisions, 4 non-identical haploid cells, gametes; crossing over in prophase I
Notes out
Learning objectives
- Name the four phases of mitosis and what happens to the chromosomes in each.
- Explain the purpose of the G1, G2 and M checkpoints and what each one checks.
- Contrast mitosis and meiosis by number of divisions, number and ploidy of daughter cells, and purpose.
Key terms and definitions
- Metaphase plate: the plane where chromosomes line up during metaphase.
- Sister chromatids: the two copies of a chromosome pulled apart in anaphase.
- Cytokinesis: the division of the cytoplasm that follows telophase.
- p53: the protein involved in the G1 checkpoint's DNA damage check.
- Crossing over: exchange of genetic material in prophase I of meiosis.
Important relationships and comparisons
- Mitosis: one division, two identical diploid cells, for growth and repair. Meiosis: two divisions, four non-identical haploid cells, for gametes.
Review questions
- In which phase does the nuclear envelope break down, and in which does it re-form?
- A cell with damaged DNA is stopped before S phase. Which checkpoint acted, and which protein is involved?
- Why does the M checkpoint matter for producing identical daughter cells?
- Explain why meiosis, not mitosis, produces genetic variation.
Quick reference summary
- Mitosis runs prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, then cytokinesis. Three checkpoints (G1, G2, M) guard size, DNA integrity, replication and spindle attachment. Meiosis halves the chromosome number over two divisions and shuffles genes by crossing over.
How it works
Make study guide in three steps
- 1
Upload the unit's deck
One lecture or a merged PDF of the unit, up to 80 slides. PPTX, PDF or a Google Slides link.
- 2
Choose Study guide
It is preselected on this page. The guide is built from the slides and speaker notes only.
- 3
Download and annotate
Open the Word file, add anything the lecturer said in class, and print the quick-reference page.
What belongs in a study guide, and what does not
A good study guide is shorter than the slides and more useful. It starts with objectives, because knowing what you are supposed to be able to do tells you what to test yourself on. It lists terms with the exact definitions the course uses, since exams reward the course's wording. It reorganises the content by topic, because a lecture visits the same idea on slides 4, 11 and 19 and a guide should put those together. And it ends with questions, because reading feels like learning and answering is learning.
What does not belong is anything the deck did not say. A guide that pulls in outside facts is a different document, and a risky one before an exam set from these slides. Nuutli writes the guide from the slides and speaker notes only, keeps every figure exactly, and leaves room in the Word file for the things you add yourself.
- For a whole unit, merge the lecture PDFs into one file under 80 pages so the guide covers all of it in one pass.
- Run the deck once more as Flashcards or Quiz on exam week; the study guide is for reading, those are for testing.
- The quick-reference summary at the end is meant to be printed on one page.
In short
To make a study guide from a PowerPoint, upload the deck to Nuutli and choose the Study guide style. It writes learning objectives, key terms with definitions, detailed notes by topic, relationships between concepts, ten review questions and a quick-reference summary, all from the slides, in about 30 seconds. Free, no sign-up, Word download.
Last reviewed November 3, 2026 by the Nuutli team.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a study guide from a PowerPoint?+
Upload the .pptx (or PDF, or a Google Slides link) to Nuutli, choose the Study guide style and click Make my study guide. In about 30 seconds you get objectives, key terms, notes by topic, review questions and a summary, ready to download as Word.
Is there a free study guide maker for slides?+
Yes. The study guide style is part of Nuutli's free tier: three decks a day, up to 80 slides each, no account, with Word and Markdown download.
What sections does the study guide have?+
Learning objectives, key terms and definitions, detailed notes by topic, important relationships and comparisons, ten review questions, and a quick-reference summary.
Can it make a study guide from several lectures?+
Merge the lectures into one PDF under 80 pages and upload that. The guide then covers the whole unit with one set of objectives and terms.
Does the study guide add outside information?+
No. It is written from the slides and speaker notes only, which is what you want when the exam is set from those slides. Every number, name and definition is kept exactly.
Can I edit the study guide?+
Yes. The download is a normal Word document with heading styles, so you can add your own notes, reorder sections, and print it.
Turn your next lecture into notes
Upload the slides and read the notes in about 30 seconds. Free, no account, the file is never stored.