How to create and format lists in Word

How to create and format lists in Word-Digital Citizen UP

We create, work with, and use lists on a regular basis. We use it in business writing, technical writing, and even for something as trivial as a shopping list or as fun as a wish list. There are times when you need to make a list in a document. And most people use Microsoft Word for this task. If you need to make lists too, here’s how to create bulleted lists, numbered lists, and nested lists (lists with sublists) in Word:

How to make a list in Word

There are three types of lists you can create: bulleted lists, numbered lists, and nested lists. Let’s see how to make them one by one.

How to make a bulleted list

To create a bulleted list in a Word document, go to the line where you want it to start and type * followed by a Space.

Create a bulleted list in Word

Immediately, Word recognizes that you’re creating a bulleted list and starts formatting it accordingly. You also see a flashlight icon for the AutoCorrect option. Continue typing the text that you want in the first bulleted list item.

The AutoCorrect icon appears

Press Enter, and Word creates a second bulleted list item, and so on.

If you don’t want to use the keyboard, click in your Word document, exactly where you want the list to start, go to the Home tab, and click the Bullets button from the Paragraph section. Word automatically creates bulleted lists for you.

Click the Bullets button from the Paragraph section

Then, type the first line and press Enter. Word automatically adds a second list item on a new line. Keep doing this until you have completed the bulleted list. After you type the final list item, press Enter again. Word creates a new blank line in the bulleted list, similar to the screenshot below.

After you type the last item, press Enter

Press the Backspace key twice. Blank lines are removed, and bulleted lists are closed. Text that you type from now on will no longer be formatted as part of your bulleted list.

How to make a numbered list

As much as Word will do the heavy lifting for you, numbered lists are the easiest to create. All you have to do is go to the line in your Word document where you want to start your list, then type 1 followed by a full stop or round brackets.

Type 1 followed by a period

Then, press Space on your keyword. Word automatically recognizes that you’re creating a numbered list and starts formatting it accordingly. You also see a flashlight icon next to your text. This is for the AutoCorrect option. If you click on it, you can access a menu to cancel automatic numbering or stop Word from automatically creating numbered lists.

Clicking AutoCorrect gives you access to several options

This numbered list can also use letters such as , b, and c instead of numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on). Therefore, you can also type a followed by a period (.) or round brackets and press Spacebar for a similar result, this time with letters instead of numbers.

Numbered list with letters

If you don’t want to use the keyboard, click in the Word document where you want the list to start, go to the Home tab, and click the Numbering button from the Paragraph section. Word automatically creates a numbered list for you.

Start a numbered list in Word

If you want to create a numbered list using letters, click the downward-pointing arrow next to the Numbering button, and choose the exact format you want from the examples shown in the Numbering Library section.

Choose the numbering system used for lists

Then, type the first line in the list and press Enter on your keyboard. Word automatically adds a second list item on a new line. Keep doing this until you have completed the list. After you type the final list item, press Enter again. Word creates a new blank line in the list, similar to the screenshot below.

After you type the last item, press Enter

Pressing the Backspace key twice removes blank lines from the list, and the list closes. From now on the text you type will no longer be formatted as part of your list.

You can type text after the list

How to create nested lists (lists with sublists)

A nested list is a list with more than one level (or nested lists if you prefer). For example, you could have a numbered list with sublists that are also numbered but use letters instead of numbers. Or you can have a bulleted list with other bulleted sublists but use different symbols to separate them from one another.

This may sound complicated, so to make things easier, let’s see how to create a nested list:

Click in the Word document where you want the list to start, go to the Home tab, and press the Tiered List button from the Paragraph section. A series of sample lists is shown. The default is a nested list combining numbers and letters. But you can also choose other formats, including bulleted lists with bulleted sublists, all of which use different symbols to differentiate one from the other. I select the first list model selected as Current List.

Click the Tiered List button from the Paragraph section

Word starts with a numbered list. I added the first two list items and pressed Enter to add the third list item. However, I want this item to be the first item in the sublist. To turn it into the first item of the nested list I press Tab on the keyboard.

Press Tab to start the sublist

Word turns this line into the first item of the sublist, using letters for the numbering instead of actual numbers. Then, I continued typing the items in the sublist. After each item, press Enter to start the second, third, and so on.

Type the first item on the second level of the nested list

When you’re done typing the sublist items, press Enter one more time. Word creates another empty item for the sublist. To turn it into main-level items, click the Multilevel List button from the Paragraph section of the Home tab. Then, go to Change List Level, and select a main level from the list.

Change list level

Notice how the new list items are aligned by main list level using their numbering system. Type item and press Enter to start a new one.

Adds items to the main list level

You can change the level of a nested list using the same steps until you have finished typing the entire list and all of its sublevels.

How to convert existing text to a list in Word

Suppose you open a Word document and see some text that is better suited to be organized as a list. First, select it with the mouse. If you need help, here’s how to select or highlight text in Windows.

Select the text that you want to turn into a list

After selecting text, go to the Home tab in the ribbon interface, and click the Bullets button in the Paragraph section.

Click the Bullets button in the Paragraph section

You’ll see how Word turns the selected text into a bullet list, and that the Bullets button remains active while that text is selected.

The selected text is converted to a bulleted list

If you want to turn the same text into a numbered list, once you’ve selected it, click Home and then the Numbering button in the Paragraph section.

Click the Numbering button in the Paragraph section

A numbered list is immediately created with the selected text, and the Numbering button remains active.

The selected text is now a numbered list

Similarly, the same steps apply to convert existing text into a nested list: select the text and click the Nested List button in the Paragraph section of the Home tab. Creating sublists with existing text works as I described in the previous chapter of this guide.

How to make a list in Word on two columns

If you want your list to have two columns side by side, you first need to set Word to split the document into two columns. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to write in two, three, or more columns in a Word document. But, for the sake of brevity, here’s how. Go to the Layout tab on the ribbon. There, click on Columns and then select Two in the next menu.

Set Word to use two columns

Then, type the text you need, and go to the line where you want the list to start. Return to the Home tab on the ribbon and click the button for the type of list you want in the Paragraph section: Bullets, Numbering, or Nested List. Then type the first list item, press Enter, write the second list item, and so on.

Select the type of list you want to create

If you haven’t read the section above, read on to understand how to build your list. Below is a bulleted list that I created in two columns on the same page.

List on two columns

How to make two lists side by side in Word

Creating two side-by-side lists in a Word document is similar to creating two-column lists. First, set Word to split the page into two columns: go to the Layout tab on the ribbon, click Columns, and choose Two in the menu that appears.

Set Word to use two columns

Then, start the first list in the first column. When you’re done, click inside the second column and create a second list. The instructions for creating the list are identical to the example shown above. Below is an example of two lists I created, side by side in Word. Hopefully, you will laugh as much as I did. I used Bing Chat to create one.

Two lists side by side

What types of lists do you need to create in Microsoft Word?

Now you know how to create all kinds of lists in Word: bulleted, numbered, nested, on two columns, or how to create two lists side by side. I hope you found my instructions useful and that everything worked out for you. If not, let me know in the comments. And feel free to share what kind of list you made using this tutorial. I’d like to know which lists are used more and which ones need help.

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