Create a Custom Bullet Format

When you click the down-arrow next to the Bullets button in the Paragraph group on the Home tab, Word displays a gallery of bullets. You can choose the type of bullet you like best, or you can use the Define a New Bullet dialog box to create a new bullet style. A bullet can be a symbol or a picture.

The Define New Bullet Dialog Box

The following explains the option in the Define New Bullet Dialog Box:

Symbol: Click the Symbol button to open the Symbol dialog box.

Font: Use the Font field to select the font you want. Symbol, Windings, Wingdings 2, and Wingdings 3 are good choices because these fonts contain many symbols.

Font Box: Below the Font field is a box that displays all of the symbols for the font. You can use the scroll bar to scroll through these symbols. To select a symbol, click it.

Recently Used Symbols: Symbols that you have recently used display near the bottom of the dialog box. To select one of these symbols, click it.

Character Code: When programming, programmers sometimes use character codes. If you know the character code for a symbol, you can select the code type in the From field and then type the character code into the Character code field. Word then selects the symbol in the Font box. For example, the ASCII decimal code for the section sign (§) is 167. If you select Times New Roman in the Font field, ASCII (decimal) in the From field, and type 167 in the Character field, Word then selects the section sign symbol.

Subset: Some code types have subsets. For example, if you select Times New Roman in the Font field and select Unicode (hex) in the From field, a Subset field appears in the top right corner of the Symbol dialog box. If you want to find all arrows in the Times New Roman font, click the down-arrow next to the Subset field and then click Arrows. Word moves to the first arrow in the font.

Cancel: Click the Cancel button if you do not want to select a symbol from the Symbol dialog box.

OK: Click OK to use the highlighted symbol.

Picture: Click the Picture button to open the Insert Pictures dialog box.

From a File: Click the Browse button to insert a picture from your local drive. The Browse button opens the Insert Picture dialog box. You can use this dialog box to search your local drive for the picture you want.

Bing Image Search: Click Bing image search to search Bing for an image.

Font: If you selected a symbol, click the Font button to open the Font dialog box. Use this dialog box to change the font, font style, font size, font color, underline style, underline color, and font effects.

Alignment: You can left align, right align, or center bullets. Use the Alignment field to select the alignment.

Preview: The Preview box provides a view of how your bullet will look, if selected.

Define a Bullet: Use a Symbol

1. Place the insertion point where you want to create a bulleted list.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the down-arrow next to the Bullets button  in the Paragraph group and then click Define New Bullet. The Define New Bullet dialog box opens.
4. Click the Symbol button. The Symbol dialog box opens.
5. Click the down-arrow next to the Font field and then click the font you want. The symbols for the font you selected appear in the Font box.
6. Click the symbol you want.
7. Click OK. The Symbol dialog box closes.
8. Click OK. The Define New Bullet dialog box closes.
9. Word inserts the bullet in your document. You can now type your bulleted list.

Or

1. Place the insertion point where you want to create a bulleted list.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the down-arrow next to the Bullets button  in the Paragraph group and then click Define New Bullet. The Define New Bullet dialog box opens.
4. Click the Symbol button. The Symbol dialog box opens.
5. Click the down-arrow next to the Font field and then click the font you want. The symbols for the font you selected appear in the Font box.
6. Click the down-arrow next to the From field and then click a code type.
7. Type the character code in the Character Code field.
8. Click OK. Words makes the symbol you selected a bullet.
9. Click the Font button. The font dialog box opens.
10. Select the Font options you want to apply.
11. Click OK.
12. Click the down-arrow next to the Alignment field and then click the alignment you want.
13. Click OK. Word inserts the bullet in your document. You can now type your bulleted list.

Define a Bullet: Use a Picture

1. Place the insertion point where you want to create a bulleted list.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the down-arrow next to the Bullets button  in the Paragraph group and then click Define New Bullet. The Define New Bullet dialog box opens.
4. Click the Picture button. The Insert Pictures dialog box opens.
5. Type what you want to search for in the Bing Image Search field or click the Browse button to search for the image you want.
6. Click the bullet you want.
   Note: You can use the scroll bar to scroll through the bullets.
7. Click Insert.
8. Click the down-arrow next to the Alignment field and then click the alignment you want.
9. Click OK. Word inserts the picture bullet into your document. You can now type your bulleted list.

Tip

If you are logged into your Office account, you can upload pictures from OneDrive, Flickr, and other Internet locations.