PowerPoint slide export stuck at 150 DPI despite ExportBitmapResolution = 600; Slide.Export works

I have successfully used the ExportBitmapResolution registry setting to export PowerPoint slides at 600 DPI for several years. However, on October 9, 2026, the same workflow suddenly stopped working.

PowerPoint now exports slides at 150 DPI using File > Save As > PNG. For a standard widescreen slide, the exported image is 2000 × 1125 pixels instead of the expected 8000 × 4500 pixels. This is a full-slide export, not the right-click “Save as Picture” operation.

My current version is: Microsoft PowerPoint 2021, Version 2609, Build 16.0.20430.20032, 64-bit.

The registry setting is: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\PowerPoint\Options

Value name: ExportBitmapResolution Type: REG_DWORD (32-bit) Value: 600 decimal, displayed as 0x00000258 (600)

I have tried the following:

Tested both a new presentation and older presentations that previously exported successfully at 600 DPI. All now export at 150 DPI.

Changed ExportBitmapResolution from 600 to 300, fully closing and reopening PowerPoint between tests. The output dimensions remained unchanged.

Restarted Windows.

Tested in PowerPoint Safe Mode.

Used Office’s “Update Now” option, but the build number remained 20430.20032.

None of these steps resolved the issue.

I also captured PowerPoint startup and slide export using Process Monitor. POWERPNT.EXE accessed the expected PowerPoint\Options registry path and queried other values, but I could not find a query for ExportBitmapResolution in the captured events.

Interestingly, exporting through VBA using Slide.Export with explicitly calculated pixel dimensions successfully produces the expected 600-DPI output. Therefore, high-resolution rendering still works, but the normal Save As workflow does not appear to use the registry setting.

Has anyone experienced this behavior with this build? Is there a known change, another setting overriding ExportBitmapResolution, or a way to restore high-resolution export through File > Save As?

Slide.Export provides a workaround, but I would like to restore the normal export workflow. Thank you.