Changing from Bullets to Numbered list in same Word doc

bogbean 20 Reputation points
2026-09-02T20:19:05.8433333+00:00

Example of problem

Photo for context. I use a Word document to take notes for a textbook course. I use a multilevel bulleted list to do this, but sometimes I want to write down a numbered list within the same document. However, Word seems to have a memory of the numbered list when I make it, and then whenever I am again in that same indent level of the list, it auto-formats with a numbered list again. If I try to change it back to bullets, it highlights all of the list points and changes them all to bullets; I'm seemingly not able to only change some within a specified range.

I want to be able to choose ranges of the document to have numbered lists vs bullet points; I don't want a certain level of a multi-level list to be locked in as either numbers or bullets. Does anyone else deal with this, and is there a way to fix it?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows
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Answer accepted by question author and recommended by moderator
Charles Kenyon 170.7K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2026-09-03T01:22:30.8333333+00:00

The way I would do this would be to set up two separate Mulitlevel List Styles, each with a corresponding multilevel list. Each level in these lists must be attached to a separate paragraph style. If each list has nine levels, you will need eighteen paragraph styles.

Resources:

To apply a given level, numbered or bulleted, you would apply the appropriate paragraph style.

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  1. JohnNgocTran-0756 0 Reputation points
    2026-09-05T00:38:13.7133333+00:00

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    2026-09-05T00:37:49.2366667+00:00

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    2026-09-05T00:37:20.5+00:00

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    2026-09-05T00:36:40.7666667+00:00

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