Bullet Points – How to Use Them Correctly

What is a bullet point?

To make a bulleted list easy to see, it should be set slightly away from the left margin. This indentation creates more white space in the text and draws attention to the selected items.

The main purpose of bulleted lists is to emphasize specific sentences or phrases using special symbols. This separates selected information from the main text and makes the message easier for the reader to understand. Bulleted lists are therefore useful whenever several pieces of information need to be grouped under one heading without creating, for example, a table.

Bulleted lists and punctuation

In most cases, an unordered list should be introduced by an opening sentence ending with a colon.

Individual bullet points usually begin with a lowercase letter and do not end with punctuation when they are fragments. If the items are complete sentences, they should begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Consistency throughout the list is essential.

Bulleted lists containing individual words or short phrases

When a list consists of individual words or short phrases, end punctuation can usually be omitted.

For longer phrases, a comma may be used at the end of the line.

Bulleted lists containing complex phrases

When list items have a complex structure and already contain punctuation marks, a semicolon can be used at the end of each item instead of a comma.

Bulleted lists consisting of complete sentences

If the bullet points are complete, independent sentences, they must begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.

To keep unordered lists readable, avoid mixing different types of bullet points, such as individual words and complete sentences. Differences in the length and form of the items could make the list harder to read correctly.

Bulleted and numbered lists – what is the difference?

Items in an unordered list are marked with special graphic symbols called bullet points, while a numbered list consists of numbers that indicate the order of each item, for example:

1. First list item.
2. Second list item.
3. Third list item.

In this case, each line should begin with a capital letter and use appropriate punctuation. At the end of list items in both numbered and unordered lists, punctuation can sometimes be omitted, especially when the items form a table of contents.

Numbered lists should be used whenever it is important to present items in a specific order. You can also create an additional bulleted list within a numbered list to expand on one of the main items.

The most commonly used bullet symbols

Other symbols can also be used as bullet points, for example:

• an asterisk (*)
• an en dash (–)
• a lowercase letter O (o)
• a check mark (✔)
• an arrow (▶)

Depending on the needs of a particular document, different bullet styles can be used to identify different types of content. For example, an en dash can indicate the key features of an object, an asterisk can mark the steps in a set of instructions, and solid black dots can separate complete sentences from a block of text.

Examples of how to use bullet points

Bulleted lists can be found in encyclopedias, technical texts, and summaries, where information with varying degrees of connection needs to be presented concisely. In such cases, it is enough to create a separate category and assign the selected phrases or words to it, introducing them with an appropriate typographic symbol.

Bullet points in different styles are also common on websites and online stores, where they are used to identify a product’s features or benefits. Writers also use bullet points in blog articles to vary the text and emphasize the most important information.