In Microsoft PowerPoint I want to use a keyboard shortcut to switch
from the Normal view when editing a slide to Slide Show view which
will display the current slide in full screen using one single
keystroke.  I know that F5
switches to Full Screen but it starts at the first slide, not the
current one.  What is the keyboard shortcut to achieve this.  If it
does not exist, how do I program it?

Hi there.  This appears to be the bane of many avid users of
Powerpoint.  Starting with Powerpoint 2003, you can use the keyboard
shortcut SHIFT-F5 to start a slide show from the current screen,
accomplishing the same thing as clicking the small icon that asafono
(in the comments) suggested.

However, on older versions, there is no built-in functionality for
this.  As a result, some developers have created options to set create
this functionality artificially.


EZView (free)
=============
"EZView is my attempt to add Alt-Z as an accelerator to that icon in
PowerPoint 2K/XP. The way this program works is very simple: it
"reads" your screen to find the icon and then "clicks" it for you."

[http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~maverick/Programs/EZView/]


OfficeOne Shortcut Manager for Powerpoint ($25)
===============================================
"Shortcut Manager for PowerPoint enables you to:
   - Define your own keyboard shortcuts to menu items and recorded macros. 
   - Define shortcuts to password protected VBA macros. 
   - Define shortcuts in Presentation Templates. Presentations created from 
     these templates automatically inherit these shortcuts. 
   - Define shortcuts to commands that aren't available directly through the 
     PowerPoint User Interface."
With this program, you can download an additional free pack of
shortcuts to make F3 start the slideshow from the current slide, among
other options.

[http://officeone.mvps.org/ppsctmgr/ppsctmgr.html] Shortcut Manager
[http://officeone.mvps.org/ppshortcuts/ppshortcuts.html] Add-on pack

Please let me know if you have any questions.

--Joey

Searching strategy: "slide show (from current slide)" shortcut

It may be possible to record a macro, and then edit it in VB editor to
position to the current slide. However, unless it MUST be a keypress,
have you considered clicking on the "Slide View" icon in the bottom
left (looks a bit like a wine cup?) Unlike F5 which always takes you
to the first slide, this will show the *current* slide in the
full-screen view. HTH,

Better yet, select the Ctrl key before selecting the slide show view
button and you get the slide show screen reduced size off to upper
left of your screen. Very kewl.