Your Ultimate Guide to Bullet Points and Numbered Lists: Write Them Like a Pro!

Bullet points and numbered lists are great for making your writing clearer, more organized, and easier to read. They are especially helpful if you’re giving a visual presentation for work or school and you want your audience to remember key points. However, it’s crucial to know how to format and punctuate bullet points and numbered lists properly.

So whether you’re working on a business report, an academic paper, or a professional email, here’s what you need to know.

When should you use bullet points and numbered lists?

Bullet points and numbered lists are great for:

• Breaking down complex information into manageable chunks
• Highlighting important points in articles, reports, presentations, and emails
• Organizing steps, instructions, or recommendations
• Comparing different options in a clear format

Which one should you use—bullet points or a numbered list?

There are two main types of lists. Unordered lists are the ones with bullet points. Ordered lists are the ones with numbers or letters.

An unordered list with bullet points works best for items that don’t follow a specific order. The previous section of this article includes an example of this, but here’s another one:

Possible locations for our office party:

• Torino Pizzeria and Piano Bar
• Le Bistro Fantastique
• Fifth Street Pub
• Kyoto Sushi Palace
• Dee Dee’s Bar and Grille

Ordered lists with numbers (or sometimes letters) are most often used for steps in a process or in other contexts where the order of information matters. For example:

How to change the ink in the printer:

1. Turn on the printer.
2. Flip open the ink cartridge access panel.
3. Press down on the old cartridge to remove it.
4. Insert the new cartridge—you should hear a clicking sound when it is placed correctly.
5. Close the access panel.

What about grammar and punctuation?

Some of the rules for grammar and punctuation are a little looser for both unordered and ordered list compared to, say, a scholarly article or even a work email. But that doesn’t mean you can just do your own thing and not worry about grammar or punctuation.

Here are some guidelines to ensure your lists are grammatically correct:

1. All of the words should be spelled correctly.

Imagine giving a PowerPoint presentation in front of your colleagues, only to find out that one of your bullet points has a misspelling! Correct spelling is a must, so be sure to proofread your text—or have one of our TextRanch editors proofread it for you.

2. Full, complete sentences are not always necessary.

If you go back to our earlier example of the possible locations for the work party, it’s just a list of restaurant names. In the list before that one (“When should you use bullet points and numbered lists?”), each item is a phrase, not a complete sentence.

Yes, you can use full, complete sentences when you’re writing an unordered or ordered list, but it is not a requirement. Feel free to use single words or short phrases if you feel that works best for your particular format or context.

 

3. Be consistent with punctuation.

If the items on your lists are full sentences (like the ones in our example about changing the printer ink), be sure to include punctuation marks at the end of each sentence. However, if the items on a list are just short words or phrases, you can omit the punctuation.

4. Don’t forget when to use capital letters.

The first letter of the first word in an unordered or ordered list should be capitalized. Sometimes our TextRanch customers forget and use a lower-case letter—this is the most common error we see with lists. Not only is a capital letter correct from a technical standpoint, it also makes the list more visually appealing and easier to read.

5. Use parallel structures.

By this, we mean that each item on a list should follow the same grammatical pattern. Let’s say we’re writing an unordered list of someone’s job responsibilities at a restaurant.

This list has parallel structures and is correct:

• Wipe the tables.
• Mop the floors.
• Take out the garbage.

This list does not have parallel structures and sounds awkward:

• Wipe the tables.
• Mopping the floors.
• To take out garbage.

6. Avoid too many bullet points or numbered items.

If you have more than seven bullet points on your list, consider breaking it into smaller sections, categories, or paragraphs. By contrast, you can get away with having a lot of numbered items since the numbers provide additional structure to keep your audience on track. Still, in most business or educational contexts, a list with more than 20 items is probably excessive.

Final tips

• Keep bullet points concise—avoid long sentences.
• You can write two sentences next to a bullet point. However, three sentences is too many.
• Use boldface type or italics for emphasis when necessary.
• Make sure your lists are visually appealing and easy to scan.

Mastering bullet points will help you write more professionally and effectively. Your audience will be able to follow your ideas and remember them more easily. And if you want to make sure your writing is the best it can be, click the blue button below. Our TextRanch editors will be happy to look over your writing—including your bullet points—and give you some feedback.