BULLETS - MS Word 2010 Tutorial

Bullets are used to prominently display information that is to be shown as an unordered list. They are an important ingredient for business and technical documents.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a bulleted list from scratch, apply bullets to existing text and make sophisticated multilevel bulleted lists in Microsoft Word Documents.

Task

Your task is to apply bullets to the following list:

NCR, Delhi
Delhi University
St Stephens College
Hindu College
IP University
Madhubala Institute of Communication
Netaji Subhash Engineering College
Bihar
Patna University
Patna Science College
Patna College
Magadh University
Commerce College
AN College

To carry out this task, first create a new document and save it as "Bullets Task". In this document, do the following:

1. Apply bullets to the above list as you type it.
2. Remove bullets from the list.
3. Now apply a different bullet to the list.
4. The list gives the names of universities and colleges of the National Capital Region (NCR) and Bihar State. Present the list in the shape of a multilevel bulleted list with territory at level 1, universities at level 2 and colleges at level 3.
5. In the multilevel bulleted list, change the bullets such that level 1 bullet is a solid black square, level 2 bullet is a solid black circle and level 3 bullet is an arrow. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Create a new document titled "Bullet Task".

Task-1: Typing a Bulleted list

1. Type “*” (without the inverted commas) and press spacebar. A black, round bullet will appear (your computer may assign a different bullet) about a quarter inch from the left margin. Instead of “*” you can type “>” or “-” as well, in which case you will get an arrow or dash for bullet.
2. Alternatively, you may click the ‘Bullets’ button in the ‘Paragraph’ group on the Home tab of Ribbon (see Figure 1). A black, round bullet will appear about a quarter inch from the left margin.
3. Type the first item of the list “NCR, Delhi” and press the ‘Enter’ key. Another bullet will appear in the next line below the first bullet.
4. Type the second item of list and press Enter. Another bullet will appear on the third line.
5. Type the rest of the list items, pressing the Enter key after each item.
6. After typing the last item press Enter key twice to terminate the bulleted list.

Figure 1

Task-2: Removing Bullets

1. To remove bullets, click in the left margin by the side of the first item and drag the pointer down to the last item. The entire list will be highlighted i.e. selected.
2. On the 'Home' tab of Ribbon, in the ‘Paragraph’ group, click the downward pointing arrowhead by the side of the‘Bullets’ button. A drop-down list will open (see Figure 1).
3. Select ‘None’ in the ‘Bullet Library’ section. MS Word will remove all bullets from the list.

Task-3: Changing Bullet Character

1. Select the entire list.
2. On the Home tab of Ribbon, in the ‘Paragraph’ group, click the downward pointing arrowhead by the side of the‘Bullets’ button. The drop-down Bullets list of MS Word will open.
3. In the ‘Bullet Library’, point successively to each bullet character to see a live preview of the way the list will look with each of those bullets, and then select a bullet of your choice. The selected bullet will appear before each item of the list.

Task-4: Making a Multilevel Bulleted list

1. Type “*” and press spacebar.
2. A bullet will appear on the first line.
3. Type the first level list item i.e. a territory name e.g. “NCR, Delhi” and press ‘Enter’ key.
4. The next item to be typed is a university name i.e. a level 2 list item. To demote the list entry to level 2, press ‘Tab’ key. The cursor will move to the next tab stop, and MS Word will place a different tab character immediately before the cursor.
5. Type the level 2 list item e.g. university name “Delhi University” and press “Enter’.
6. Press ‘Tab’ key to demote the list entry to level 3. The cursor will move to the next tab stop, and MS Word will place yet another tab character, different from the level 1 and 2 tab characters, before the cursor.
7. Type the level 3 list item i.e. college name “St Stephens College” and press “Enter’.
8. Type the next level 3 list item “Hindu College” and press ‘Enter’.
9. The next item to be typed is a university name which is a level 2 item whereas the cursor is presently at level 3. Hence, to promote the next list entry to level 2, press ‘Shift’ + ‘Tab’ keys together. The cursor will move to the previous tab stop and the level 2 tab character will appear before the cursor.
10. Type the level 2 list item.
11. Type rest of the list items, promoting or demoting the list entries as explained above.
12. After you have typed the last item, press ‘Enter’ 5 times to terminate the list.

The list will now look like this:

Figure 2

Task-5: Changing Bullet Characters in a Bulleted Multilevel List

To change the bullets in a multilevel bulleted list, you will need to define a new multilevel list with desired bullets at different levels.

1. Select the entire multilevel bulleted list.
2. On the ‘Home’ tab, in the ‘Paragraph’ group, click the downward pointing arrowhead by the side of ‘Multilevel List’ button. A drop-down gallery of multilevel lists will open.
3. At the bottom of the list, you will find the menu option ‘Define New Multilevel List’. Click it. The ‘Define New Multilevel List’ dialog of MS Word will be launched (see Figure 2).
4. In this dialog, make sure that ‘1’ is selected in the ‘Click Level to Modify” box.
5. Click the ‘Number style for this level’ box. A drop-down list showing various numbering styles and bullets will open.
6. Scroll down the list and select the solid black square bullet.
7. Click ‘2’ in the ‘Click Level to Modify” box and select solid black round bullet in the ‘Number style for this level’ box.
8. Finally, click ‘3’ in the ‘Click Level to Modify” box and select arrow bullet in the ‘Number style for this level’ box.
9. Click ‘OK’ button. The dialog will close and selected bullets will appear in your multilevel list as shown below.

Recap

In MS Word documents :

• You can create a simple bulleted list using the ‘Bullets’ button in ‘Paragraph’ group on ‘Home’ tab or by typing “*” and pressing the spacebar on your computer.
• Different bullets can be applied to different levels of a multilevel list using the ‘Multilevel List’ button in ‘Paragraph’ group on ‘Home’ tab.

We appreciate you reading this guide in its entirety. Visit us again for news and useful advice in the future. It will be worthwhile for you to visit. I truly value your coming by and being here. If you find these instructions and advice useful and instructive, kindly tell your friends about our website. On the other hand, if you believe that there is any area that could use better, kindly share your suggestions. These will be much embraced and valued. Use the comment section below to provide suggestions or ask questions. Your questions will be swiftly investigated and properly addressed, and your comments will be promptly examined and published. Thanks.