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Change the Numbered List Style in PowerPoint 2010

Learn how to change the numbered list style of selected text in PowerPoint 2010.

Author: Geetesh Bajaj

Product/Version: PowerPoint 2010

Date Created: July 19th 2011
Last Updated: July 19th 2011

By default, PowerPoint uses the 1, 2, 3 numerical style for numbered lists. And since you can change bulleted list styles, it is only natural that you expect some changes to be allowed for numbered list styles too. PowerPoint allows you to change to several numerical styles -- there are variations in digits, alphabets, and Roman numerical styles:

Tip: Do you want to change the numbered list style in all slides? The instructions on this page are for working with individual slides in Normal view. To apply these changes to all slides, follow the same steps within the Slide Master view.

Open any presentation or create a new one. Then navigate to a slide that contains a numbered list -- select the the entire placeholder by clicking on the edge of the placeholder (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Slide with numbered text
Access the Home tab of the Ribbon -- within the Paragraph group, click the arrow beside the Numbering button (highlighted in red in Figure 2).

Figure 2: The Numbering button in the Home tab of the Ribbon
This brings up the Numbering gallery, as shown in Figure 3. The highlighted number style is the current number style applied to your selected text.

Figure 3: Numbering gallery
Now hover the cursor over any of the number style previews in this gallery -- as you move over different previews, the selected text shows you a live preview of the number style applied -- click on the preview to apply the style to your selected text (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Live preview of number styles
Figure 5 shows the number style of the selected text changed from digits to Roman numerical style (compare Figures 1 and 5).

Figure 5: Number style changed

Tip: Want to format your numbers in a style that's different from the rest of the text? Choose the Bullets and Numbering option, highlighted in red within Figure 4, earlier on this page -- the resultant options are explained in our Customize the Bullet Size and Color in PowerPoint 2010 tutorial page.

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