How to Put Bullet Points Side By Side in Google Docs

Putting bullet points side by side in Google Docs can be very useful for creating organized and visually appealing documents like presentations, flyers, brochures, and more. While Google Docs doesn’t have a built-in feature to easily put bullets side by side, there are a couple straightforward formatting tricks you can use to accomplish this.

Use a Table

The easiest way to put bullet points side by side in Google Docs is by using a table. Here’s how:

1. Type out your bullet point list, with each bullet on its own line
2. Highlight the entire list
3. Click Insert > Table
4. Under Columns, enter 2 to split your list into 2 columns
5. Under Rows, enter the number of bullets/rows in your list
6. Click OK

Your bullet list will now display in an evenly divided 2-column table, with the bullets neatly lined up side-by-side.

Pro Tip: Use the Distribute rows evenly option to have Google Docs automatically divide your bullets between the columns.

Use Columns

You can also put bullet points side by side using Columns formatting:

1. Type out your bullet point list, with each bullet on its own line
2. Highlight the entire list
3. Go to Format > Columns and select the number of columns you want
4. Optionally, use column breaks (Insert > Break > Column Break) between bullets where you want to split the columns

Pro Tip: This method allows for more customization and flexibility with your columns.

Manually Format with Tabs

For the most granular control, you can put bullets side by side manually using tabs:

1. Type your first bullet point
2. Press Tab to move the cursor over
3. Type the second bullet
4. Press Enter for the next line, then Tab over to align the third bullet, and so on

While this method takes more effort, it allows you to precisely position each bullet.

Pro Tip: Use the ruler guide atop your document (under View > Show ruler) to track indentation.

Best Practices

• Use consistent bullet formatting (type, size, color) for uniformity
• Align the length of bullet points across both columns
• Start bullet points on the left margin
• Indent wrapped text on long bullet points
• Separate bullet point lists into their own tables/text boxes for positioning flexibility

Following these best practices will result in clean, professional multi-column bullet point lists.

Short Bullet Point Lists

For shorter lists, use a single table with defined columns:

| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|-|-|
| • Short bullet 1 | • Short bullet 4 |
| • Short bullet 2 | • Short bullet 5 |
| • Short bullet 3 | |

Long Bullet Point Lists

For longer lists, break into multiple tables/text boxes:

| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|-|-|
| • Long bullet 1 | • Long bullet 6|
| • Long bullet 2 | • Long bullet 7|
| • Long bullet 3 | • Long bullet 8|
| • Long bullet 4 | • Long bullet 9|
| • Long bullet 5 | • Long bullet 10|

This allows greater positioning flexibility.

Common Uses

Putting bullet points side-by-side is commonly used in:

• Presentation slides – Display dual columns of bullets
• Flyers/brochures – Show bullet features in organized columns
• Comparison charts – Contrast competing elements
• Specification tables – Align detailed product specs
• Newsletters – Populate side-by-side columns
• And more…

The techniques covered above provide helpful formatting options to create attractive and readable multi-column bullet point lists for any document.

So the next time you want to showcase information side-by-side in Google Docs, use these simple methods to put bullet points in organized columns. Just remember to keep it consistent, aligned, and readable!