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Introduction

Bulleted and numbered lists can be used in your documents to format, arrange, and emphasize text. In this lesson, you will learn how to modify existing bullets, insert new bulleted and numbered lists, select symbols as bullets, and format multilevel lists.

 

Using bulleted and numbered lists

When you want to organize lists in Word, you can format them as either bulleted or numbered lists. Word offers a variety of bullet options that allow you to customize your lists to suit your needs.

Optional: You can download this example for extra practice.

To create a list:

1. Select the text you want to format as a list.
2. Click the Bullets or Numbering drop-down arrow on the Home tab.
   The Bullets and Numbering commands and drop-down arrows
3. Select the bullet or numbering style you want to use, and it will appear in the document.
4. To remove numbers or bullets from a list, select the list, then click the Bullets or Numbering commands.

When you're editing a list, you can press Enter to start a new line, and the new line will automatically have a bullet or number. When you've reached the end of your list, press Enter twice to return to normal formatting.

Bullet options

To use a symbol as a bullet:

1. Select an existing list.
2. Click the Bullets drop-down arrow.
3. Select Define New Bullet from the drop-down menu. The Define New Bullet dialog box appears.
   The Define New Bullet dialog box
4. Click the Symbol button. The Symbol dialog box appears.
5. Click the Font drop-down box, and select a font. The Wingdings and Symbol fonts are good choices because they have a large number of useful symbols.
   Choosing a symbol
6. Select the desired symbol.
7. Click OK. The symbol will now appear in the Preview section of the Define New Bullet dialog box.
   Preview of the new bullets
8. Click OK to apply the symbol to the list in the document.

You can use a picture as a bullet. Click the Picture button in the Define New Bullet dialog box, then locate the image file on your computer.

To change the bullet color:

1. Select an existing list.
2. Click the Bullets drop-down arrow.
3. Select Define New Bullet from the list. The Define New Bullet dialog box appears.
4. Click the Font button. The Font dialog box appears.
5. Click the Font Color drop-down box.
   Choosing a bullet color
6. Click the desired color to select it.
7. Click OK. The bullet color will now appear in the Preview section of the Define New Bullet dialog box.
   Preview of the new bullet color
8. Click OK to apply the bullet color to the list in the document.
   The finished bullets

Multilevel lists

Multilevel lists allow you to create an outline with multiple levels. In fact, you can turn any bulleted or numbered list into a multilevel list by placing the insertion point at the beginning of a line and pressing the Tab key to change the level for that line. You can then use the Multilevel List command to choose the types of bullets or numbering that are used.

To create a multilevel list:

1. Select the text you want to format as a multilevel list.
2. Click the Multilevel List command on the Home tab.
   The Multilevel List command
3. Click the bullet or numbering style you want to use. It will appear in the document.
4. Position your cursor at the end of a list item, then press the Enter key to add an item to the list.

To remove numbers or bullets from a list, select the list, then click the Bullets or Numbering commands.

To change the level of a line:

1. Place the insertion point at the beginning of the line.
   Placing the insertion point at the beginning of a line
2. Press the Tab key to increase the level.
   Pressing the Tab key to increase the level of a line
3. Hold Shift and press Tab to decrease the level.

Challenge!

1. Open an existing Word document. If you want, you can use this example.
2. Format some text as a bulleted or numbered list. If you're using the example, use the list of New Clients on page 2.
3. Insert a new numbered list into the document.
4. Modify the color of a bullet.
5. Use the Tab key to change the levels of some of the lines.

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