How to Add Bullet Points in Word? 4 Easy Methods

(Note: This guide on how to add bullet points in Word is suitable for all MS Word versions including Office 365)

Microsoft Word is a very effective software used for documentation purposes and also helps in keeping track of lists. Instead of just having the items one after the other without any visual cues, it’d be better if you could have some bullet points to emphasize the points.

Bullet points help pinpoint certain important information and help the reader understand important points easily. In this article, I will tell you how to add bullet points in Word using 4 easy methods.

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How to Add Bullet Points in Word?

Add Bullet Points to an Existing List

When you download or copy any data, the data might not have bullet points. Also, when you create a list of points in a hurry, you might not have the patience to add bullet points to each entry in the list. In such cases, you can add bullet points to an existing list using this method.

Consider a Word document that has a list of colors.

To add bullet points, first, select the data.

Then, navigate to Home. Under the Paragraph section, click on Bullets or Numbering based on your choice.

*Add bullet points in Word using Home menu*

Note: Instead of navigating between tabs, you can add bullet points to the list using the toolbar which pops up when you select the data.

When you click on the bullets option, only the default bullet pointer (•) gets added to the list. If you want to add a different bullet to the list, select the data and click on the dropdown from Bullets.

Then, select the bullet you want to add.

If you want to add more entries to the list, press Enter. This adds a bullet point onto a new line and you can type in the next entry.

To exit the bullet mode, press Enter twice. This will revert the list from bullet mode to normal paragraph mode.

Add Bullet Points to a New List

If you want to add bullet points to a list as you create them, you can easily do that using this method.

First, place the cursor where you want to add bullet points.

Then, navigate to Home. Under the Paragraph section, select the default bullet point or any bullet point from the dropdown. In this case, let us add the square bullet point.

Once you click on the bullet point, the indented pointer appears with the cursor next to it.

You can then type in the data you want to add to the list.

To add another point or list, press Enter.

The cursor moves to a new line and a new bullet point is added where you can add your data.

By pressing Enter as you input the data, you can easily create a list in Word. And if you want to stop adding bullet points to the list, press Enter twice.

Add Bullet Points Using Symbols

This is one way to add a variety of bullet points to your lists.

First, place the cursor where you want to add the bullet point.

Navigate to Insert. Click on the dropdown from Symbols and select More Symbols.

This opens up a Symbols dialog box. In the dialog box, scroll up and down, and choose the symbol of your choice for the bullet points.

Select the symbol and click Insert.

This adds the selected bullet point to the list.

Now, you can copy and paste the bullet point to add them anywhere you want in the list.

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Add Bullet Points in Word Using Keyboard Shortcut

There is a keyboard shortcut for almost every operation. In Word, using the shortcut keys to add bullet points is easy and effective. There are two ways to add bullet points in Word using shortcut keys.

Using the Alt Key

Place the cursor in the destination where you want to add the bullet point.

Now, hold the Alt key and press the Numpad keys 0, 1, 4, and 9 one after the other, i.e. Alt+0149.

Once you leave the Alt key, the bullet point appears.

Unlike other methods to add the bullet points, pressing Enter won’t add a bullet point in the next line.

Though this method is easy, you cannot add bullet points using shortcut keys to an existing list and can only be added using number keys in the Numpad. You can only use the shortcut keys to insert a bullet point and then add the list.

Note: The number 0149 is the code for the default bullet pointer. If you want to use another symbol for the bullet pointer, navigate to Insert. Click on the dropdown from Symbol and select More Symbols. In the dialog box, click on the symbol you want and remember the shortcut key given below.

Using Asterisk or Number

Using the Alt key and codes is one way to insert bullet points, but there is an easier method to add them.

If you want to add bullet points, first, place the cursor in the destination.

Enter an asterisk (*) and press Space.

This inserts the bullet point in the location.

In the same way, if you want to insert a numbered list, enter any number and press Space.

This adds the number pointers to the list.

You can press Enter and add bullets one after the other.

And, if you want to exit the bullet mode, press the Enter button twice.

Note: This method works with a new list or an existing list, but the cursor should be placed at the start of the new line for this method to work.

Define a New Bullet

If you take a particular liking to a bullet point, you can add it to the bullet point repository and use them whenever you like with just the click of a button.

To define a new bullet, navigate to Home. Click on the dropdown from bullet points and select Define New Bullet.

This opens up a Define New Bullet dialog box.

From the dialog box, select either the symbol, picture, or font option and choose the bullet point.

You can also see the preview of how the bullet point will appear in the Preview pane.

Click OK.

Now, your selected bullet gets added to the repository.

When you need to use the bullet, just click on the dropdown and select the bullet point.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to add bullet points in Word?

First, select the data that you want to list and then navigate to Home. Under the Paragraph section, click on Bullets or Numbering based on your choice. This helps you to add bullet points in Word in an easy way.

What is the shortcut key for adding the bullet points in Word?

Place the cursor in the destination where you want to add the bullet point. Now, hold the Alt key and press the Numpad keys 0, 1, 4, and 9 one after the other i.e. Alt+0149. Once you leave the Alt key, the bullet point appears.

How to add bullet points in Word on Mac?

Place the cursor in the destination where you want to add a bulleted or numbered list. Navigate to Home, click the arrow next to Bullets or Numbering. Click on a bullet to insert it into the destination.

Closing Thoughts

Bullet points and numbered lists are very powerful visual cues to help the user easily ascertain and categorize the information.

In this article, we have seen how to add bullet points in Word in 4 easy ways. You can either choose to add the bullets to an existing list or while creating a new list. You can also use a variety of symbols and shortcut keys to add bullet points in Word.

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Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA. He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!