(Archives) Microsoft Word 2007: Using Bulleted Lists

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This article is based on legacy software.

With Word, you can make bulleted lists, numbered lists, or outlines. You can create bulleted lists using the Home command tab or AutoFormatting. For information on numbered lists, refer to Using Numbered Lists.

About Bulleted Lists

  • This is an example of a bulleted list

  • When the text wraps, it does not wrap all the way to the bullet, but only to where the first line of text began

  • The BULLETS button in the Paragraph group acts like a toggle switch. Clicking once turns it on; clicking a second time turns it off

  • To change the bullet style or the indents, use the dialog box option

Using the Home Command Tab

You can easily apply bullets to your lists from the Home command tab.

Applying Bullets as You Type

When you are ready to add bulleted text to your document, use the following steps:

  1. Place the insertion point where you want the bullets to begin

  2. In the Home command tab, in the Paragraph group, click BULLETS bullets

    NOTE: Word inserts the first bullet and moves the insertion point a quarter inch to the right, where you can begin typing text.

  3. Type the desired text
    If the text wraps, Word maintains the quarter-inch indent.

  4. Press [Enter]
    Another bullet appears.

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as necessary

  6. When finished typing the last line of bulleted text, press [Enter]
    The insertion point should appear on a blank bulleted line.

  7. To end the bulleted list, in the Home command tab, in the Paragraph group, click BULLETS bullets
    OR
    To end the bulleted list, press [Enter]

Applying Bullets to Existing Text

  1. Select the text to be bulleted

  2. In the Home command tab, in the Paragraph group, click BULLETS bullets

To remove bullets:

  1. Select the bulleted text

  2. In the Home command tab, in the Paragraph group, click BULLETS bullets

Using AutoFormatting

Bulleted lists can be created automatically as you type if you have those options selected in the AutoCorrect dialog box. If you have created a specific bullet style, you may want to turn this option off. For more information, refer to AutoCorrect: Automatic Formatting.

Working with Formatted Bullets

The paragraph character ¶ influences the formatting of the bullet of a list item. If one or more bullets has an undesired color, the paragraph character was included when the color formatting was applied.

To remove the formatting from the bullet only:

  1. In the Home command tab, in the Paragraph group, click SHOW/HIDE show hide
    Your document's non-printing symbols are displayed.
    test

  2. Select the paragraph symbol for the list item with the formatted bullet

  3. In the Home command tab, under the Font group, use the formatting tools to remove the formatting

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