
Alternate units cannot be applied to angular dimensions. The alternate units appear in square brackets () in the dimension text. A common use of this feature is to add feet and inches dimensions to drawings created using metric units. The ruler (and dialog boxes that show units of measure) now display measurements in the system you've chosen.You can create dimensions in two systems of measurement simultaneously. If you’re using another version of Windows, look for a Numbers option that includes a Measurements setting, and then change the value to Metric. On the Numbers tab, in the Measurement system list, click Metric. If you’re using Windows Vista or Windows XP, click the Regional Options tab, and then click Customize. Select Metric from the Measurement system list, and click OK. If you’re using Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7, in the Region or Clock, Language and Region dialog box, click the Change Date, Time or Number Formats tab, and then click Additional settings.

(The exact name varies depending on which version of Windows you’re using.) The exact options that appear are different for various versions of Windows: Select the app that has Region in its name.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.) Enter Control Panel in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Control Panel.

In Windows 8, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search. In Windows 10, click Start and type Control Panel. Go to Control Panel by doing one of the following:

PowerPoint displays the measurement system your computer uses, so to change from inches to metric (or vice versa), you make the change in Control Panel in Windows rather than in PowerPoint.
