Although this article is noticeably short, being a Microsoft Outlook user, you must learn “How to Turn On & Off Auto Bullet or Numbering in Outlook“?
Auto bullet and numbering can be useful features in Outlook, sometimes when you type ‘1.’ or ‘*‘ in your email message and press space or hit enter, that ‘1.’ or ‘*‘ is automatically converted into numbered or bulleted.
Not Only Microsoft Outlook, but this feature is also part of entire Microsoft platforms like (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
The purpose is to make that happen intentionally but sometimes it causes trouble in the flow of typing; you need to turn this auto-format feature off.
Steps to Turn Off Numbering or Auto Bullet in Outlook
You can disable this feature any time you want, once you turnoff you will no longer encounter this issue in Outlook while creating an email message.
- Step 1: – Open Microsoft Outlook Application.
- Step 2: – Click on File Tab >> Hit Options
- Step 3: – Outlook Options dialog box appears, select Mail from the left navigation section then click on the Spelling and Autocorrect option.
- Step 4: – Next open the Editor Options dialog box, Click Proofing from the left navigation section, and then click Autocorrect Options.
- Step 5: – Next in the AutoCorrect dialog box, please go to the AutoFormat as You Type tab and uncheck the Automatic bulleted lists & The Automatic numbered lists boxes in the Apply as you type section.
- Step 6: – Finally Click OK and close all the dialog boxes.
From Now onwards when you try to type ‘1.’ or ‘*‘ in your email message and press space or hit enter, that action removes as it is.
The above method is simple and regular, apart from this process, there is another quick method.
AutoCorrect Options
Open Outlook Mail creates a New Message/Reply or Forward, and type ‘*‘ that will convert the bullet symbol, in addition, you will get an autocorrect option small icon which opens a few more options and allow you to directly take a specific action.
- Undo Automatic Bullets – Selecting this reverse the action (Undo).
- Stop Automatically Creating Bulleted Lists – This option disables automatically creating a bullet list entirely, to enable it you have to go to the options section.
- Control AutoFormat Options – It’s a shortcut to open Autocorrect in the Email Dialog box, where you can enable and disable both options (Automatic bulleted lists & Automatic numbered lists).
Similarly, you can follow the steps for Automatic numbered lists also
How to Change the color of a Bullet or Numbering in Outlook?
By default, Microsoft Outlook uses black color in both bullets and numbering, there is an option to change the color.
Once you enter all the bullets or numbering on your Outlook body, you can select any of your bullets/numberings using the mouse or back arrow key, which will select the entire bullets/numbering, Now goes to the message tab and under basic text select the color icon drop-down list.
Select the color you like to change for bullets/numbering.
Bullet/Numbering Library
If we talk about Bullet or Numbering, we get the image of the small dot in our minds, and for numbering, we get Numerics in our minds, which is natural.
You can also change or use other designs for Bullet or Numbering.
Select Bullet or Numbering, go to the message tab from the above navigation section >> From the Basic Text, >> select bullets drop-down options.
You will get a few options under Bullet Library, and a few in Document Bullets, you can select any one of them which suits your document.
Change List Level is another option that changes the level and increases the page margin.
Similarly, the Numbering library also consists of appealing options which you can use on your Outlook Documents.
How do I get auto bullets back in Outlook?
In case you like to get auto, bullets, and numbering back in Microsoft Outlook, you need to repeat the same process and mark both the checkboxes (Automatic bulleted lists & The Automatic numbered lists) and click Ok.
What is Define New Bullets?
After reading the above content, you must conclude that Outlook bullet/numbering library only provides a couple of options to design the bullets or numbering fonts.
But This statement is not entirely TRUE!
Microsoft Outlook provides you with Define New Bullets/Define New Number Format where you can create your own custom design or pattern according to your requirement.
Let’s understand!
Click on bullet dropdown list >> select define new bullets from the bottom of the list.
In the Define New Bullet dialog box, you get three options under Bullet character.
- Symbol – When you click the Symbol icon, a list of symbol dialog box appears which consists of numerous symbols, when you select any of them, that symbol is added to the bullet library.
- Picture – You can use the picture as a bullet under this option, there are three segments (From a file, Bing Image Search, OneDrive – Personal), and the picture you select will be again added to the bullet library.
- Font: – This option allows you to change the font, size, and color, add strikethrough, and many more.
What is Define New Number Format?
Click on the Numbering dialog box and Click Define New Number Format from the button of the list.
Number Style options in the dialog box consist of numerous number styles you can select according to your choice. The pattern reflects in Number format with (dot).
Under Number format, you can add any text, number, or alphabet for expanding further along with alignment (Left, Centered, Right).
Hit Ok to execute.
Keyboard Shortcut for Bullets and Numbering in Outlook?
The most common keyboard shortcut to insert Bullet and Numbering is, To create Bullet type * (asterisk), and then press Spacebar or the Tab key. To create a numbered list, type 1., and then press Spacebar or the Tab key.
- For Bullet – Alt + H + U
- For Numbering – Alt + H + N
You will be directed to the dialog box, there you can easily select any bullets or numbering to insert.
Why are bullet points not working in Outlook?
Some of the users facing issues that bullet points not working in Outlook, the major cause is this feature is disabled, you need to activate the feature so that way bullet points and numbering work.
How To Insert Bullet or Numbering List in Outlook?
We will be discussing how to insert a bullet or numbering list in Outlook. This is a simple process that can be completed in a few steps.
To insert a bullet or numbering list in Outlook:
- Select the text where you want to insert the bullet or numbering list.
- On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Bullets or Numbering button.
- Do one of the following:
- To Insert a bullet, click Bulleted List.
- To Insert a numbering list, click Numbered List.
To change the bullet style or start a list at a specific number, click the Bullets or Numbering button, and then click Define New Bullet or Define New Number Format.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Microsoft Outlook’s new bullet and numbering tools make it easy to streamline your email. You can use bullets and numbers anywhere, including task lists, meeting notes, and project documentation.