Introduction
To create effective PowerPoint presentations, it's important to make your slides
easy for the audience to read
. One of the most common ways of doing this is to format the text as a
bulleted or numbered list
. In this lesson, you will learn how to
modify
existing bullets, change the
bullet style
, switch to a
numbered list
,
remove bullets
and
numbers
, and select
symbols
as bullets.
Modifying lists
By default, when you type text into a placeholder, a
bullet
will be placed at the beginning of each paragraph. This is called a
bulleted list
. If you want, you can modify a list by choosing a different bullet style or by switching to a
numbered list
.
Optional: You can download this
example
for extra practice.
To modify the bullet style:
-
Select all text in an existing list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Bullets
drop-down arrow. A menu of bullet options will appear.
Clicking the Bullets drop-down arrow
-
Hover over each menu option to display a live preview of the bullet on the slide.
Selecting a new bullet type
-
Select the desired
bullet option
.
To modify a numbered list:
-
Select all text in an existing list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Numbering
drop-down arrow. A menu of numbering options will appear.
Clicking the Numbering drop-down arrow
-
Hover over each
menu option
to display a live preview of the list on the slide.
Selecting a new numbering type
-
Select the desired
numbering option
.
To change the starting number:
By default, numbered lists count from the number one. However, sometimes you may want to start counting from a different number, like if the list is a continuation from a previous slide.
-
Select an existing numbered list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Bullets
drop-down arrow.
-
From the drop-down menu, select
Bullets and Numbering
. A dialog box will appear.
The Bullets and Numbering option
-
In the
Start At
field, enter the desired starting number.
Entering a new starting number
-
The list will update the numbering to begin with the new number.
The updated list
Modifying the list's appearance
Whether you're using a bulleted or numbered list, you may want to change the appearance by adjusting the size and color of the bullets or numbers. This can make your list stand out better, and it can also help it match the appearance of your presentation.
To modify the size and color:
-
Select an existing bulleted list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Bullets
drop-down arrow.
-
From the drop-down menu, select
Bullets and Numbering
. A dialog box will appear.
-
Set the bullet size using the
Size
field.
Changing the bullet size
-
Click the
Color
drop-down box, and select a color.
Changing the bullet color
-
Click
OK
. The list will update to show the new size and color.
The updated bullets
Customizing bullets
To use a picture as a bullet:
-
Select an existing bulleted list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Bullets
drop-down arrow.
-
From the drop-down menu, select
Bullets and Numbering
. A dialog box will appear.
-
Click
Picture
on the Bulleted tab. The
Picture Bullet
dialog box will appear.
Clicking the Picture command
-
Select the desired picture, and click
OK
.
Selecting a picture
-
The list will update to show the new bullets.
The updated bullets
You can also click
Import
to use one of your own pictures as a bullet.
To use a symbol as a bullet:
-
Select an existing bulleted list.
-
On the
Home
tab, click the
Bullets
drop-down arrow.
-
From the drop-down menu, select
Bullets and Numbering
. A dialog box will appear.
-
Click
Customize
on the Bulleted tab. The
Symbol
dialog box will appear.
Clicking the Customize command
-
Click the
Font
drop-down box, and select a font. The
Wingdings
and
Symbol
fonts are good choices because they have a large number of useful symbols.
-
Select the desired symbol.
Selecting a symbol
-
Click
OK
. The symbol will now appear as the selected bullet option in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.
-
Click
OK
again to apply the symbol to the list in the document.
The updated bullets
Challenge!
-
Open an
existing PowerPoint presentation
. If you want, you can use this
example
.
-
Change a bulleted list to a
numbered list
. If you are using the example, use the list on slide 4.
-
Change the
color
of the numbered list.
-
Change another list to a different
bullet style
. If you are using the example, use the list on slide 3.
-
Change the bullet
color
.
-
Change the bullet to a
symbol
.