Changing the default for bulleted lists in Word is neither intuitive nor obvious.
I use Word 2008 as my main text editor. Somewhere along the way, the default style for the bulleted list that arises when you click the bullet icon in the toolbar got completely mangled. The first line was indented a full inch, while subsequent lines in the bullet point were indented an inch and a half. Ugly. I finally figured out the process for changing the default bullet format and I'm sharing in case anybody else has the same issue. I'm assuming similar steps would apply in Word 2004 and 2011, but I don't have them and don't know.
[crarko adds:
Customize Paragraph and Numbering Defaults. Word / Mac / Office 2011 for Mac; Replies (1) Bob Jones AKA: CyberTaz Replied on June 21, 2014. Most of Word's built-in Styles cannot be deleted, although virtually all can be modified. What's New in Word for Mac 2011. Familiar, easy tools. The tools you want, when you want them. The new Microsoft Office for Mac ribbon helps you find the features and commands you want to complete tasks quickly.
I use Word 2008 as my main text editor. Somewhere along the way, the default style for the bulleted list that arises when you click the bullet icon in the toolbar got completely mangled. The first line was indented a full inch, while subsequent lines in the bullet point were indented an inch and a half. Ugly. I finally figured out the process for changing the default bullet format and I'm sharing in case anybody else has the same issue. I'm assuming similar steps would apply in Word 2004 and 2011, but I don't have them and don't know.
- In a new, blank document, Choose 'Bullets and Numbering' from the Format menu
- Click on the first option under the 'Bulleted' tab and click the 'Customize' button
- Choose the options you want for type of bullet, font, indent, etc. (I use Bullet position of 'indent at .25' and text position of 'indent at 0.38,' but you may prefer different options)
- In order to ensure that these options apply in any new document you create, you must add the Bulleted List style to your Normal template.
- Choose Format ยป Style... and click the 'Organizer' button.
- On the left of the Organizer window, choose 'List Paragraph' and then click the 'Copy' button to copy to Normal.dotm
[crarko adds:
I haven't tested this one.]