Fixing Mismatched Bullets and Numbers

Summary: When you format bulleted lists or numbered lists, you may be surprised if some of the bullets or numbers don't match the other bullets or numbers. Careful attention to what you are actually formatting can help to cure this problem, as discussed here. (This tip works with Microsoft Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007.)

Sometimes when using the numbering or bullet features in Word, the format of one or more of the numbers or bullets does not match the others. For example, the color, size, or some other formatting could be different. This can be very frustrating to resolve if you don't realize that the format of the number and bullet is actually controlled by the format of the end-of-paragraph marker maintained by Word.

The end-of-paragraph marker is visible when you click the Show/Hide tool (it has the backward P on it). All you need to do is make sure that the paragraph marker of all items in your list are selected when you apply the bullet or numbering formatting or a style that applies such formatting. Word will then make sure that bullets and numbers are formatted the same for each item in the list.

Tip #763 applies to Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Great Idea! Word is a tool to get what you really want—printed output. This means you need to make sure that Word works as well as possible with your printer, whether it is sitting on your desk or in a room down the hall.

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Fixing Mismatched Bullets and Numbers