Changing the color of bullet points in Microsoft Word can help make your documents more visually appealing and easier to read. The default black color may not stand out or fit your document’s color scheme. Fortunately, customizing bullet colors is quick and simple.
In this article, we’ll walk through the step-by-step process to change bullet colors in Word. Whether you want all your bullets to be the same color or make each level a different hue, these instructions will guide you through the process. Read on to learn how to add some color pop to your Word docs!
Prerequisites
Before we change any bullet colors, make sure you have the following:
- Microsoft Word installed on your Windows or Mac computer
- A document open in Word that contains bulleted lists you want to modify
- The bulleted lists formatted using built-in bullet styles (not manually inserted symbols/images)
If you don’t already have bullet points inserted, check out this Microsoft guide for adding bullet points in Word.
Step 1: Select the Bullet You Want to Change
To change a bullet color in Word, you first need to select the actual bullet you want to modify. Here’s how:
- Click directly on the bullet point you want to change. This selects the entire bulleted list.
- Make sure you see the selection handles around the bullet and list text.
Now you can change the formatting and it will apply to all bullets at that level.
Tip: To select all bullets/lists in the document, press Ctrl+A instead of clicking a bullet.
Step 2: Open the Define New Bullet Window
With your bullet(s) selected, open the Define New Bullet window to customize the color and other formatting options:
- Go to the Home tab.
- In the Paragraph group, click the Bullets drop-down arrow.
- Hover over Define New Bullet… and select it.
The Define New Bullet window will open.
Step 3: Change the Bullet Color
In the Define New Bullet window, switch to the Font tab to change the bullet color:
- Go to the Font tab.
- Click the Font color drop-down menu.
- Select the new bullet color you want.
- Click OK to apply the changes.
Your selected bullets will now appear in the chosen color!
Tip: Try different colors in the preview pane before closing the window.
Step 4: Modify Additional Bullets (Optional)
To change other bullets to a different color, repeat Steps 1-3 selecting and modifying each set of bullets you want.
For multi-level lists, make sure you choose bullets from each level you want to modify. Then follow the color change steps.
When finished customizing colors, click OK to exit the Define New Bullet window.
And that’s it! Your bulleted lists will now display the updated colors.
Customizing Beyond Color
Changing the bullet color is just one customization option for bulleted lists. Here are a few other formatting tweaks you can make in that Define New Bullet window:
- Bullet character – Change to another symbol like an arrowhead
- Font – Choose font type, size, and formatting like bold/italic
- Size – Increase or decrease bullet size
- Indent – Modify indentation and spacing between bullets and text
Take a minute to explore all the settings so you can customize your bullets exactly how you want them.
Fix Misaligned Bullets
If modifying the bullets caused alignment issues:
- Select the misaligned text
- Go to Home > Paragraph > Multilevel List > Define New Multilevel List
- Adjust indents and spacing
- Click OK
This will realign your bulleted lists.
Conclusion
Customizing your bullet colors and styles is easy and adds visual interest to documents. Now you know how to change the color of bullet points in Word using built-in options.
So try picking palette colors that complement your document design or use different hues for each bullet level. Get creative with bullets that make your lists stand out!
And if you need any help with other Word formatting or features, explore more of our Microsoft Word tutorials!
