Add bullets or numbering - Help and How-to

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Add bullets or numbering

Applies to: Microsoft Office Word 2003

Microsoft Word can automatically create bulleted and numbered lists as you type, or you can quickly add bullets (bullet: A dot or other symbol that is placed before text, such as items in a list, to add emphasis.) or numbers to existing lines of text.

Show Create bulleted and numbered lists as you type

Type 1. to start a numbered list or * (asterisk) to start a bulleted list, and then press SPACEBAR or TAB.
Type any text you want.
Press ENTER to add the next list item.

Word automatically inserts the next number or bullet.
To finish the list, press ENTER twice, or press BACKSPACE to delete the last bullet or number in the list.

Note If bullets and numbers do not automatically appear, click AutoCorrect Options on the Tools menu, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Select the Automatic bulleted lists or Automatic numbered lists check box.

Show Add bullets or numbering to existing text

Select the items you want to add bullets or numbering to.
On the Formatting toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click Bullets or Numbering .

Show Tips

You can select different bullet styles and numbering formats by clicking Bullets and Numbering on the Format menu.
You can move an entire list to the left or the right. Click the first number in the list and drag it to a new location. The entire list moves as you drag, without changing the numbering levels in the list.
You can turn an existing list into an outline numbered list (outline numbered list: A list created to apply a hierarchical structure to any list or document. A document can have up to nine levels, and Microsoft Word does not apply built-in heading styles to the items in the list.) by changing the hierarchical level of items in the list. Click a number in the list other than the first number, and then press TAB or SHIFT+TAB, or click Increase Indent or Decrease Indent on the Formatting toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.).