10 Minute Guide to Word for Windows 95

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Creating Numbered and Bulleted Lists

In this lesson you'll learn how to create numbered and bulleted lists in your document.

Why Use Numbered and Bulleted Lists?

Numbered and bulleted lists are useful formatting tools for setting off lists of information in a document; you've seen plenty of both in this book! Word for Windows automatically creates these elements. Use bulleted lists for items that consist of related information, but are in no particular order. Use numbered lists for items with a specific order. Figure 22.1 shows examples of numbered and bulleted lists.

When creating a list, each paragraph is considered a separate list item and receives its own number or bullet.

Figure 22.1
Word automatically creates numbered and bulleted lists such as these.

Creating a Numbered or Bulleted List

To create a numbered or bulleted list from existing text, follow these steps:

1. Select the paragraphs that you want in the list.

2. Select Format Bullets and Numbering to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

3. Depending on the type of list you want, click the Bulleted tab or the Numbered tab.

Figure 22.2 shows the Numbered style options, and Figure 22.3 shows the Bulleted style options.

4. Click the bulleting or numbering option that you want.

5. Select OK.

Figure 22.2
List numbering style options displayed in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

Figure 22.3
List bulleting style options displayed in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.


To create a numbered or bulleted list as you type:

1. Move the insertion point to the location for the list. Press Enter, if necessary, to start a new paragraph.

2. Select Format Bullets and Numbering to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

3. Depending on the type of list you want, click the Bulleted tab or the Numbered tab.

4. Click the bulleting or numbering style that you want.

5. Select OK.

6. Type in the list elements, pressing Enter at the end of each paragraph. Each paragraph will be automatically numbered or bulleted as it is added.

7. At the end of the last paragraph, press Enter. Word will insert an extra, empty list item that will be removed in the next step.

8. Select Format Bullets and Numbering to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, then select Remove.


Timesaver Tip: Quick Lists Create a numbered or bulleted list quickly--in the default style--by clicking the Numbered List or Bulleted List button on the Toolbar before typing, or after selecting the list text.

Using Multilevel Lists

A multilevel list contains two or more levels of bullets or numbering within a single list. For example, a numbered list could contain a bulleted list under each numbered item, or each level could be numbered separately, as in an outline. Here's how to create a multilevel list:

1. Select Bullets and Numbering from the Format menu to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

2. Click the Multilevel tab to display the multilevel options, as shown in Figure 22.4.

3. Click the list style you want, then click OK.

4. Start typing the list, pressing Enter after each item.

5. After pressing Enter, press Tab to demote the new item one level, or Shift+Tab to promote it one level. Otherwise, the new item will be at the same level as the previous item.

6. After typing the last item, press Enter then click the Numbering button on the standard toolbar to end the list.

Figure 22.4
Use the Multilevel tab in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box to create a multilevel list.


To change the style of an existing multilevel list, or to convert an existing list to a multilevel list:

1. Select all the paragraphs to be in the new list.

2. Select Format Bullets and Numbering, then click the Multilevel tab.

3. Click the desired list style, then click OK.

4. Move the insertion point to each item whose level you want to change.

5. Click the Decrease Indent and Increase Indent buttons on the standard toolbar to change the item's level.

Undoing a Numbered or Bulleted List

Follow these steps to remove bullets or numbers from a list:

1. Select the paragraphs that you want the bullets or numbering removed. This can be the entire list or just part of it.

2. Select Format Bullets and Numbering to display the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

3. Select Remove.

Adding Items to Numbered and Bulleted Lists

You can add new items to a numbered or bulleted list as follows:

1. Move the insertion point to the location in the list where you want the new item.

2. Press Enter to start a new paragraph. Word automatically inserts a new bullet or number, and renumbers the list items as needed.

3. Type in the new text.

4. If it's a multilevel list, click the Decrease Indent and Increase Indent buttons on the standard toolbar to change the item's level, if desired.

5. Repeat as many times as needed.

This lesson showed you how to create numbered and bulleted lists. The next lesson shows you how to arrange text in columns.


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