Fix the Arabic letter order in Arabic PowerPoint converted from PDF

fix_reverse_arabic_letters_powerpoint.vba

Sub FixArabicReverseText()
    Dim shp As Shape
    Dim originalText As String
    Dim reversedText As String
    
    ' Check if anything is actually selected
    If ActiveWindow.Selection.Type = ppSelectionNone Then
        MsgBox "Please select the text box(es) you want to fix first.", vbExclamation
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    ' Loop through every shape in your current selection
    On Error Resume Next ' Skip shapes that don't allow text manipulation
    For Each shp In ActiveWindow.Selection.ShapeRange
        
        ' Check if the shape can hold text and actually has text
        If shp.HasTextFrame Then
            If shp.TextFrame.HasText Then
                
                ' 1. Get the current text
                originalText = shp.TextFrame.TextRange.Text
                
                ' 2. Reverse the string
                reversedText = StrReverse(originalText)
                
                ' 3. Apply the fixed text back to the shape
                shp.TextFrame.TextRange.Text = reversedText
                
                ' Optional: Ensure text direction is Right-to-Left
                shp.TextFrame.TextRange.ParagraphFormat.TextDirection = ppDirectionRightToLeft
                
            End If
        End If
    Next shp
    On Error GoTo 0
    
End Sub

Instructions.txt

Step-by-Step Instructions (macOS)
PowerPoint on Mac hides the coding tools by default. Here is how to set it up and use the script:

1. Enable the Developer Tab
Open PowerPoint.

Click PowerPoint in the top menu bar (top left of your screen) and select Preferences...

Click on Ribbon & Toolbar.

In the right-hand list (under "Main Tabs"), check the box for Developer.

Click Save. You will now see a "Developer" tab in your main PowerPoint ribbon.

2. Insert the Script
Click the Developer tab.

Click the Visual Basic button (usually on the far left). A new window will open.

In this new window, look at the "Project" pane on the left. Right-click on your presentation name (e.g., VBAProject (Presentation1)).

Note: If you don't see the Project pane, go to View > Project Explorer.

Select Insert > Module.

A blank white window will appear. Paste the code provided above into this window.

Close the Visual Basic window and return to your slide.

3. Run the Fix
Select the text box(es) on your slide that contain the backwards Arabic. (You can hold Shift and click to select multiple boxes at once).

Go to the Developer tab and click Macros.

Select FixArabicReverseText from the list.

Click Run.

Codia AI Noteslide does a good job at Arabic PDF OCR and PowerPoint conversion, but it is expensive.
https://codia.ai/noteslide/

Other tools that I have found result in the Arabic letters being reversed in order (e.g. مرحبا will be written as ابحرم).
This VBA script fixes the letter order for such files.