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Users can now restore presentations they deleted in Sway as part of this month’s update to Microsoft’s cloud-powered tool for creating Web-based interactive presentations.
“We added a Recycle Bin to Sway—a common customer request. Now, any Sway you delete using Sway on the web, Sway for Windows 10 or Sway for iPhone and iPad goes to the Recycle Bin, where you can recover it for up to 30 days,” said the Microsoft Sway group in a Jan. 22 announcement. “So, if you accidentally delete a Sway or you want to recover a Sway you deleted, it’s as easy as a couple taps or clicks.”
Launched last summer, Sway uses machine-learning technology to help users assemble text, images and videos into presentations with a professional touch. In authoring so-called “Sways,” users can also pull content from a variety of social media sources, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
In its first update for 2016, Sway for Windows 10 is introducing the ability to drag and drop images directly into Sway, mimicking the browser-based version of the software.
“Now you can use drag and drop to get images from your PC or tablet right into Sway for Windows 10,” said the Sway group. Similarly, the Windows 10 app can display Sways in full-screen mode, much like a Web browser.
“When you tap or click Play in the app, the Sway fills the entire screen, with the Windows app chrome and Taskbar hidden. To return to editing mode, simply hit Escape or choose the pencil icon in the top right,” instructed the Microsoft staffers.
Exemplifying its new platform-agnostic approach to apps, the software maker is reaching out to users of the Google Chrome browser and Chromebook devices.
“Sway is now in the Chrome Web Store, as well as the Google Play for Education store, for registered schools and organizations,” said the Sway team. “Installing Sway from the Chrome Web Store makes it easy for Chromebook and Google Apps users to access Sway from Chrome browser and your Chromebook launcher.”
Sway on the Web and for Windows 10 also now supports nested groups of content. “So, you can try out many more formatting combinations for your text, images, videos, maps, charts and more within a given Sway layout you’ve selected,” stated Microsoft.
Finally, Microsoft is strengthening the ties between Sway and its free software, OneNote.
“Now it’s possible to send your OneNote content to Sway directly from within OneNote, using the new Send to Sway add-in for OneNote (preview),” said the Sway team regarding the new integration. “This add-in helps you easily start a new Sway with the images and text from your OneNote 2016 or OneNote 2013 page. Then you can use Sway to keep adding interactive multimedia and produce an engaging, visually compelling story.” The preview currently requires a Microsoft account and is only available in English.