Numbering lists in word

Numbered lists, also named as ordered lists, are used to convey a sequential
process. An ordered list always uses numbers, letters, or roman numerals for each item.

Create a numbered list using the keyboard (using AutoCorrect)

Microsoft Word, by default, automatically changes some symbols with the followed point or closing
parenthesis and space, if you type them in the first position of the line, to the numbered lists. Some
examples:

To create a numbered list, just type the appropriate symbols with the following space:

Note: If Word doesn’t automatically change these symbols, check the AutoCorrect
setting for lists (see
how to
turn off the automatic creation of bulleted and numbered lists).

Create a numbered list using the mouse

To create a numbered list, follow the next steps:

   1.   Type your list, and then select it.

   2.   Do one of the following:

• On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Numbering button:

  

• Right-click on the selection and choose the Numbering button on the Mini toolbar:

  

Word creates the numbered list with the last used type of the numbering or with the digit 1 and
the point, used by default. You can find different numbering formats by clicking the arrow next to
Numbering:

   3.   To add additional numbered items to your list, move the insertion
point to the end of a line formatted with a number and press Enter:

   4.   Move the insertion point to the end of the last numbered item on your
list. Press Enter and then Del, or press Enter and click the Numbering
button again on the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, to turn off the number formatting:

Note: More details are available in the
Numbered lists
section in the
Work with bulleted, numbered and multi-level lists
lesson of the
Create basic documents
free course.

See also Customizing numbered lists.

See also this tip in French:
Comment créer des listes numérotées ou listes à puces.

1. What Multi-level Numbering Looks Like

Often used in the legal profession or in large corporate documents, multilevel numbering creates a logical hierarchy and easy navigation within the document. The headings can also be summarised later on in a table of contents. Here is a simple example:

2. How to Set Up Multilevel Numbering

Here is the correct process:

In the previous post of mine, I mentioned on how to Create A Bullet List In A Microsoft Word Document. In this post I will mention how to Create A Number List in a Microsoft Word Document.

Many times we have a list that contains items that need to be referenced elsewhere in a document, or just to be numbered. We can number a list or even all the paragraphs that we have in a document. All we have to do is to follow the steps below.

In the image below I have created a List of the Days of the Week.

The next step is to select the list and then locate the area of the ribbon Paragraph of the Home tab as shown in the image below.

Once the list is selected, we select the arrow at the right of the Numbering icon, from the Paragraph area of the ribbon as shown in the image below. Once selected the drop down menu of the Numbering command appears, where we have a variety of predefined Numbering examples to choose from.

All we have to do is to select the Numbering that we want, and straight away the List or Paragraphs will numbered as shown in the image below.

At the bottom of the drop down menu of the Numbering command we have the following three options to choose from which are the following:

• Change List Level

• Define New Number Format

• Set Numbering Value

In the image below, once our list is selected we can Change the List Level, just by selecting the command.

From the drop down menu of the Numbering command, if we select the Define New Number Format command, the corresponding window will appear where we can do the following:

• Number Style: By selecting the arrow at the right of the command we can change the Number Style to some other predefined Numbering.

• Font: By selecting the Font button, we can change the size, color and etc. of the Numbering that we have chosen.

• Number Format: In this text area, we can interfere, with the actual Numbering Style, by creating a new one of ours.

• Alignment: We can change the Numbering Alignment into Left, Centered or Right.

All, that is left, is for the arrangements to take place is to press the OK button which is located at the bottom of the Define New Number Format window, as shown in the image below.

In the image below, I have selected the Set Numbering Value command, from the Numbering drop down menu, and straight away the corresponding window appears where we can do the following:

• Start New List: By selecting this command, we can interfere with the Numbering of the List by dividing the List and creating a New List.

• Continue From Previous List: By selecting this command, we can choose to continue the Numbering from the Previous List.

• Set Value To: We can choose to Set the Value of the Numbering List to the number that we want.

Again, whatever settings we do, at the end we press the OK button in order for them to take place.

In my next post, I will describe how to Create A Multilevel List in a Microsoft Word Document.

Below you can check out the video on How To Create A Numbering List in a Microsoft Word Document.

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Introduction

Bulleted and numbered lists can be used in your documents to outline, 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.

Optional: Download our practice document.

Watch the video below to learn more about lists in Word.

To create a bulleted list:

1. Select the text you want to format as a list.

   

2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow next to the Bullets command. A menu of bullet styles will appear.

   

3. Move the mouse over the various bullet styles. A live preview of the bullet style will appear in the document. Select the bullet style you want to use.

   

4. The text will be formatted as a bulleted list.

   

Options for working with lists

• To remove numbers or bullets from a list, select the list and click the Bulleted or Numbered list command.
• 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.
• By dragging the indent markers on the Ruler, you can customize the indenting of your list and the distance between the text and the bullet or number.

  

To create a numbered list:

When you need to organize text into a numbered list, Word offers several numbering options. You can format your list with numbers, letters, or Roman numerals.

1. Select the text you want to format as a list.

   

2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow next to the Numbering command. A menu of numbering styles will appear.

   

3. Move the mouse over the various numbering styles. A live preview of the numbering style will appear in the document. Select the numbering style you want to use.

   

4. The text will format as a numbered list.

   

To restart a numbered list:

If you want to restart the numbering of a list, Word has a Restart at 1 option. It can be applied to numeric and alphabetical lists.

1. Right-click the list item you want to restart the numbering for, then select Restart at 1 from the menu that appears.

   

2. The list numbering will restart.

   

You can also set a list to continue numbering from the previous list. To do this, right-click and select Continue Numbering.

Customizing bullets

Customizing the look of the bullets in your list can help you emphasize certain list items and personalize the design of your list. Word allows you to format bullets in a variety of ways. You can use symbols and different colors, or even upload a picture as a bullet.

To use a symbol as a bullet:

1. Select an existing list you want to format.

   

2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow next to the Bullets command. Select Define New Bullet from the drop-down menu.

   
3. The Define New Bullet dialog box will appear. Click the Symbol button.

   

4. The Symbol dialog box will appear.
5. Click the Font drop-down box and select a font. The Wingdings and Symbol fonts are good choices because they have many useful symbols.
6. Select the desired symbol, then click OK.

   

7. The symbol will appear in the Preview section of the Define New Bullet dialog box. Click OK.

   

8. The symbol will appear in the list.

   

To change the bullet color:

1. Select an existing list you want to format.

   

2. On the Home tab, click the drop-down arrow next to the Bullets command. Select Define New Bullet from the drop-down menu.

   

3. The Define New Bullet dialog box will appear. Click the Font button.

   

4. The Font dialog box will appear. Click the Font Color drop-down box. A menu of font colors will appear.
5. Select the desired color, then click OK.

   

6. The bullet color will appear in the Preview section of the Define New Bullet dialog box. Click OK.

   

7. The bullet color will change in the list.

   

Multilevel lists

Multilevel lists allow you to create an outline with multiple levels. Any bulleted or numbered list can be turned into a multilevel list by using the Tab key.

To create a multilevel list:

1. Place the insertion point at the beginning of the line you want to move.

   
2. Press the Tab key to increase the indent level of the line. The line will move to the right.

   

To increase or decrease an indent level:

You can make adjustments to the organization of a multilevel list by increasing or decreasing the indent levels. There are several ways to change the indent level.

• To increase the indent by more than one level, place the insertion point at the beginning of the line, then press the Tab key until the desired level is reached.

  
• To decrease the indent level, place the insertion point at the beginning of the line, then hold the Shift key and press the Tab key.

  

• You can also increase or decrease the levels of text by placing the insertion point anywhere in the line and clicking the Increase Indent or Decrease Indent commands.

  

When formatting a multilevel list, Word will use the default bullet style. To change the style of a multilevel list, select the list, then click the Multilevel list command on the Home tab.

Challenge!

1. Open our practice document.
2. Scroll to page 3.
3. Select the text under New Members starting with Carolyn and ending with Co-Treasurer, and format it as a bulleted list.
4. With the text still selected, use the Define New Bullet dialog box to change the bullets to a green star. Hint: You can find a star in the Wingdings font.
5. Increase the indent level by 1 for the lines Social Media Marketing, Fundraising, and Co-Treasurer.
6. Increase the indent level by 2 for the line Primarily Europe.
7. In the Treasurer’s Report list, decrease the indent level by 1 for the line Amount available this month.
8. In the Communications Report list, restart the numbering at 1.
9. When you’re finished, your page should look something like this:

   

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For those who struggle for brevity in writing, using bullet points and numbered lists can help ensure clarity. And they are particularly good when giving examples or outlining a process.

Thankfully, Microsoft Word makes it easy to add these to your work.

Using Bullet Points

Bullet points are generally used when listing things non-sequentially (i.e. when the order doesn’t matter). As a general rule, though, bullet points aren’t used for lists of less than four items, since these lists can be included in the main text of your document.

To insert a bullet pointed list when using Microsoft Word 2010 or later:

• Place the cursor where you want to add the list.
• In the ‘Home’ tab, find the bullet point button under ‘Paragraph’.
• If you’re happy with the default bullet point type, click the icon.
• If you want a specific style of bullet, click the arrow and select one from the menu.
  
• Write the first item in your list, then press ‘Enter’ to add a new bullet.
• To finish your list, press ‘Enter’ twice after the final item.

If you really want to mix things up, you can even use custom images as bullet points!

Using Numbered Lists

Numbered lists are used when you want to list items sequentially or in order of importance. The way to do this is very similar to inserting bullet points:

• Place the cursor where you want to start the list.
• Under the ‘Home’ tab, find the ‘Numbering’ button.
• To use the default number type, simply click the icon.
• To select a custom numbering system, click the arrow for more choices.
  
• Write the first item in your list, then press ‘Enter’ to move to the next one.
• To finish the list, press ‘Enter’ twice after writing the final item.

For more customisation, you can also play with the ‘Define New Number Format’ options.

Using Multilevel Lists

If you’re feeling extra adventurous, you can even use a ‘multilevel’ list. This is especially useful if you want to include sub-lists within your main list.

To create a multilevel list:

• Place the cursor where you want to start the list.
• In the ‘Home’ tab, click the ‘Multilevel list’ icon or select a list style from the menu.
  
• Write your list as normal until you want to include a sub-list.
• Add a new point in your list. At this point you have two options:
  • Press ‘Tab’ button on the next line. The line will indent itself and use the next list level in the style you have selected each time you press tab.
  • In the bullet point, numbered list or multilevel list menus, select the level you want to use with the ‘Change list level’ option.

And for more control, click ‘Define New Multilevel List’ in the ‘Multilevel list’ menu. Here, you can change the settings for the different levels of a multilevel list.