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Docs 101: Creating and formatting lists

GoogleApps_Oct07_AFor those who use Google Apps, more specifically Google Docs, in their office, there is a good chance that many of your documents will need to contain bulleted lists or numbers. These are both included in Docs but did you know that you can format them and that Google has also recently updated their overall behavior?

Creating a bulleted/numbered list in a Google Doc

If you have text in a Doc that you would like to change into a bulleted or numbered list, you can do so by:

  1. Highlighting the content you would like to be turned into a list.
  2. Pressing More in the toolbar above the document.
  3. Clicking on either the button with 1,2,3, or bullets.

This will turn the highlighted content into a list. If you want to include sublists, click where you would like the sublist to start and hit Tab. This will move the list item over one indent and create a sublist. If you have sublists that are supposed to be major list items, then click at the left-side of the point and hit Shift + Tab.

Formatting your bullets or numbers

By default, any numbered lists will start with standard numbers (e.g., 1,2,3) and bulleted lists will start with a round bullet. You can change the type of number or bullet used by pressing on the little gray arrow beside the list type button on the menu bar above the text field. This will bring up a drop-down menu with different types of lists. For example, you can change 1,2,3 lists into A,B,C lists, or Roman Numerals.

You can change the color of the bullets or numbers by clicking on one of the bullets and pressing the text color button. This is located in the menu bar above the text field and looks like an A with a black bar below it. Select the color you want.

The new change to bulleted/numbered lists

In late September, Google introduced a small change to the way Docs handles lists. Now, when you are typing, you can enter a number of characters on a new line and Google will automatically create a list. For example, if you are typing and need to create a numbered list hit Enter to go to a new line and enter: 1. (with the period).

You will notice that this creates an automatic indent. Hitting Enter again will add another list item. The characters you can use to tell Docs to automatically create a list include: *, -, (a), a), a., (A), A), A., I., (1), 1), and 1.

If you don’t want to create a list like this, then simply hit Backspace after the list is indented to convert it into a normal line. You can also turn this function off by pressing Tools followed by Preferences… and unticking Automatically detect lists and then Ok.

Looking to learn more about using Google Docs in the office? Contact us today.