How to Insert a Bullet List in Excel Cells

Have you ever had the need to insert a bullet list in an Excel cell?  You may want to do that when you want to show a bunch of items having one set of attributes. You can insert a basic bullet point or other characters to add a bit of variety to the bullets. Let’s get started with the steps on how to insert a bullet list in Excel cells .

How to Insert a Bullet List in Excel Cells

1. Place the insertion point within the cell in Edit mode. That is, press F2.

2. Press ALT+0149 (use the numeric keypad) to insert a bullet point.

3. Press the Spacebar to include a space after the bullet point.

4. Enter the line of text and press Alt+Enter to move to the next line within the cell.

5. Press the Spacebar, then press ALT+0149 to insert the next bullet point.

6. Continue with steps 4 and 5 until you achieved the desired result.

Pressing the numbers at the top of the keyboard from the number row does NOT do the trick. It only works when you use the numeric keyboard. If you are using Excel on the laptop, just ensure that you have Num Lock turned on. You can press SHIFT+Num Lock or Fn+Num Lock to activate Num Lock on most laptops.

Unlike the usual bulleted lists, inserting a new line does not insert a fresh bullet point. You will have to use the ALT+0149 option for each bullet point you want to create. Another point to note is that the bullet so created is only an extended character and may not be available with all fonts.

Also, ensure that you have Wrap text feature turned on, so the bulleted points appear in a clear readable format.

You can also insert additional characters in Excel cells such as >, /, ~, !, by following these steps.

1. Select the cell or range of cells that you want to apply bullets to.

2. Right-click the selection and choose Format Cells.

3. In the Format Cells dialog box, on the Number tab, select Custom.

4. In the Type text box, enter the character you want to use, press Spacebar and the press @.

5. Press Ok to close the dialog box and have the new character inserted in the selected cells.

Follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fan page to get tutorials, updates and how-to articles on Microsoft, Google and Apple products.