Use a screen reader to create bulleted or numbered lists in Outlook

Use Outlook with your keyboard and a screen reader to quickly create bulleted and numbered lists in various styles. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

In this topic

• Create a bulleted or numbered list
• Create a nested list
• Change the indentation of a list
• Change the bullet or number style

Create a bulleted or numbered list

1. While writing an Outlook message, press Alt+H, Z, B and then do one of the following:

   • To open the bullet style menu, press U, L.
   • To open the number style menu, press N.

2. Use the Right and Left arrow keys to find the bullet or number style you want to use, for example, "Solid circle," and then press Enter. The first item in the list is created and the focus moves to it.

3. Type the list item text.

4. To add another list item, press Enter.

5. To finish the list, press Enter twice. The focus moves to an empty line below the list. With Narrator, you hear: "New line." With JAWS, you only hear "Enter."

Create a nested list

You can create a list within a list, such as nested bullets in a bulleted list or outline-style numbering in a numbered list.

1. From an existing list, navigate to the item that should come before the nested list, and press Enter to create a new list item after it.
2. With the cursor at the start of the line for the new item, press the Tab key. Outlook automatically increases the indent for that item and makes it part of a nested list.
3. Type the text of the first nested list item.
4. To add another nested list item, press Enter.

The bullet or numbering style for the nested list item is based on the style of its parent item. You can change these styles to any available bullet or numbering style.

Change the indentation of a list

1. Select the entire list.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To increase indent, or move the list farther away from the margin, press Alt+H, Z, B, A, I.
   • To decrease indent, or move the list closer to the margin, press Alt+H, Z, B, A, O.

Change the bullet or number style

If you want to change the style of existing bullets or numbers, you can choose any style from the bullet or numbering library.

1. Select the entire list.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To open the bullet style menu, press Alt+H, Z, B, U, L.
   • To open the numbering style menu, press Alt+H, Z, B, N.

3. Use the Right and Left arrow keys to find the bullet or numbering style you want to change to, for example, "Hollow circle," and then press Enter. The style of all first level list items changes to match.

See also

Use a screen reader to align text and paragraphs in Outlook

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Mail

Use Outlook on the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to quickly create bulleted and numbered lists when composing a message with Mail. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

In this topic

• Create a bulleted or numbered list
• Create a nested list
• Change the indentation of a list

Create a bulleted or numbered list

1. While writing an Outlook message, at the start of a new line, do one of the following:

   • To start a bulleted list, type an asterisk (*), and then press Spacebar. A filled circle bullet list item is automatically created.
   • To start a numbered list, type 1. (the number 1 followed by a period), and then press Spacebar. A numbered list item is automatically created.

2. Type the list item text.

3. To add another list item, press Enter, and then type its text.

4. To finish the list, press Enter twice. The focus moves to an empty line below the list.

Create a nested list

You can create a list within a list, such as nested bullets in a bulleted list or outline-style numbering in a numbered list.

1. From an existing list, navigate to the item that should come before the nested list, and press Enter to create a new list item after it.
2. With the cursor at the start of the line for the new item, press the Tab key. Outlook automatically increases the indent for that item and makes it part of a nested list.
3. Type the text of the first nested list item.
4. To add another nested list item, press Enter, and then type its text.

Change the indentation of a list

1. Select the entire list.

   Tip

   To select a piece of text, hold down Shift and press the arrow keys to move the cursor.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To increase indent, or move the list farther away from the margin, press the Tab key.
   • To decrease indent, or move the list closer to the margin, press Shift+Tab.

See also

Use a screen reader to create bulleted or numbered lists in Outlook for Mac

Use a screen reader to align text and paragraphs in Outlook

Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook

Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook

Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Mail