Multilevel list PowerPoint

Using lists is one of the best ways to present lots of information in a concise, easy-to-understand way. Lists will ensure that your presentations can be informative without boring your audience or inducing information overload. Let’s look at some of the ways that you can use a bullet point PowerPoint.

Adding Bullet Points to PowerPoint

First, you need to select the area to which you want to apply the bullet points. Then, you will need to click on the bullet points icon. This icon is located on the “Home” tab in the middle of the page. Once you do this, you will be presented with a range of options from which you can choose. You can next select the best bullet points for your needs. If none of these options are appealing, or you want to access more advanced settings, click on the “Bullets and Numbering” button at the bottom of this options menu.

Figure 1: Some of the bullet point options from which you can choose.

Adding a Numbered List to PowerPoint

Figure 2: The location of the numbered list icon in PowerPoint.

In some cases, you might prefer to use a numbered list. Numbered lists can make it easier for you to spell out your points. To do this, you will need to click on the numbered list icon, which is also on the “Home” tab, next to the bullet point list icon. This list will give you multiple options, ensuring that you can select the best one for your presentation.

How Do You Make a Multi-Level Numbered List in PowerPoint?

You can create multi-leveled lists in PowerPoint using the tab key. When you want to create a new level, you can hit the tab key, which will shift everything across, starting a new list on that level. By default, this new numbered list will begin at number one. However, there are some ways to customize this to suit your needs. You can use the method we discussed above to define a new type of numbered list. Alternatively, you can select the text and right-click, which will bring up a range of options. You can adjust the way that list items appear by selecting either the bullet or numbered list sections.

Figure 3: Using right-clicks to change the settings for the PowerPoint list items.

To get back to the previous level, you will need to use the shift + tab keys. In some cases, you will need to change the settings on that level to return to the original formatting. While it can be time-consuming, setting a multi-level list will help your presentation stand out, pleasing your audience.

Lists will let you summarize much information in a short space of time, helping keep your presentation short and ensuring that your audience understands your points. As we discussed, there are multiple options for using PowerPoint bullet points. Hopefully, you will now understand some of the things that you can do to use this powerful set of tools in your presentations.

Numbering capabilities in PowerPoint are very limited, especially compared to what is possible in Word. Some years ago I made this article discussing the subject in versions 2003-2007-2010.
Use multilevel outline numbering in PPT 2003-2010 It is time to post an update. Well, unfortunately nothing has changed in the current versions of PPT, no multilevel numbering added. If you want the real multilevel numbering you still have to use a Microsoft Word object. Skip to item 3 below if that is the case. If you do not want to use automatic numbering and want to do it manually stick with item 1 or 2 below.

You can apply different bullets or numbers/letters to each individual level. You do that in the master of the presentation (Figure 1), go to View and click Master click in each level and choose the numbering button on the Home tab to apply the style you need. Below (Figure 2) I have adjusted the indents on the ruler to have the letter align perfectly with the previous level.

Figure 1: Master of the presentation

Figure 2: Example of a slide with the master applied

1.

• Type your outline in Microsoft Word 2016/2019 using the multilevel level numbering button on the Paragraph group of the Home tab and select the multilevel numbering style.
  

• Give it the formatting you need.
• Now select the complete list and click the copy button on the Home tab.
• In PowerPoint paste the selected list in the Empty layout, you have three possibilities:

2 Paste unformatted text (partially editable)
 Click the down arrow under the Paste button and choose the Paste as plain text icon.

To make the list appear as the original in Word you have to select the complete list and add a tab stop in the ruler. Then click in front of every second level number and press the Tab key of your keyboard.

You can edit the list in a very limited way (Figure 4), adding a first level number is possible by positioning your cursor and pressing enter. Second level numbers will have to be added/changed manually. Not really a prospect to look out for, so avoid it if possible. See the example below.

Figure 3: different ways of pasting

Figure 4: edit the list

Pasting as plain text in a placeholder is also possible. For instance in the Title and object layout. This gives you the following result:

To get rid of the bullet click on the placeholders border and click on the numbering button in the paragraph group of the Home tab. To obtain the original look of the list you will have to use the same technique as described above, add tab stop(s)/indents and use your keyboard tab key to align the text. The formatting you applied in the Word outline is gone (bold numbers and text on level 1) which is to be expected as we pasted as unformatted text.

3 Paste as Microsoft Word document (fully editable)
Click the down arrow under the Paste button and choose Paste special, Microsoft Word-document object.

You can edit the outline by double clicking the object in edit mode. This will open up a Word window inside PPT that allows you to make the necessary modifications. When finished click next to the object to place it on the slide again. 

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