Bulleted and numbered lists help organize and highlight text. This guide explains how to modify bullets, insert new lists, use symbols as bullets, and format multilevel lists.

Creating a Bulleted List

  1. Select the text you want to turn into a list.

  2. Click the Bullets drop-down arrow in the Home tab.

  3. Hover over different bullet styles to see a preview.

  4. Click on a style to apply it.

Your text is now a bulleted list.

Creating a Numbered List

  1. Select the text you want to format.

  2. Click the Numbering drop-down arrow in the Home tab.

  3. Hover over the numbering styles to see a preview.

  4. Click on a style to apply it.

Your text is now a numbered list.

Restarting a Numbered List

  1. Right-click the list item where you want to restart numbering.

  2. Click Restart at 1.

You can also continue numbering from a previous list by right-clicking and selecting Continue Numbering.


Customizing Bullets

You can change the look of bullets by using symbols or colors.

Using a Symbol as a Bullet

  1. Select an existing list.

  2. Click the Bullets drop-down arrow in the Home tab.

  3. Select Define New Bullet.

  4. Click Symbol, choose a symbol, then click OK.

Your list will now have symbol bullets.


Changing Bullet Color

  1. Select an existing list.

  2. Click the Bullets drop-down arrow and select Define New Bullet.

  3. Click Font, then choose a color from the Font Color menu.

  4. Click OK to apply the color change.

Your bullets will now appear in the selected color.





Creating a Multilevel List

A multilevel list allows different levels of bullets or numbers.


  1. Place the cursor at the beginning of a line.

  2. Press the Tab key to move the line to the right.

  3. To move a line back, hold Shift and press Tab.

You can also use the Increase Indent or Decrease Indent buttons.


To change the style of a multilevel list, select it and click Multilevel List in the Home tab.