Copy • from the panel above when you need a literal bullet character. When you need a working list, apply bulleted-list formatting in Word, Google Docs, or HTML instead of manually adding • to the start of each line.
Identify the bullet character
Unicode names • BULLET and assigns it U+2022 in the General Punctuation block. Several dot-like characters are separate identities: ∙ is U+2219 BULLET OPERATOR, · is U+00B7 MIDDLE DOT, ⁃ is U+2043 HYPHEN BULLET, and ◦ is U+25E6 WHITE BULLET.
Do not identify a character by apparent size alone because fonts can draw these glyphs differently. Check the code point and intended role. Use U+2022 for the standard literal bullet, U+2219 for its mathematical operator identity, U+00B7 for a middle dot, U+2043 for a hyphen bullet, and U+25E6 when the text specifically calls for a white bullet.
Choose a literal bullet or list formatting
A literal • is one text character. It is useful in a short inline separator, a plain-text field, source data, or any place that requires that exact code point.
List formatting is an app or document feature. It manages list items, indentation, continuation when Enter is pressed, and selectable marker styles. Use it for actual lists. The displayed round marker should not be treated as proof that the document stores a literal U+2022 at the start of each paragraph.
Insert a literal • in Microsoft Word
Type 2022 at the insertion point and press Alt-X. Microsoft documents Word's general Unicode conversion as entering a hexadecimal character code and pressing Alt-X; Unicode establishes that 2022 is the value for BULLET.
If Word includes an adjacent hexadecimal character in the conversion, select only 2022 and press Alt-X. This inserts the character for text use and is different from applying Word's Bullets command.
Create a formatted bulleted list in Word
At the beginning of a new line, type an asterisk and a space. Word automatically starts a bulleted list. You can also select existing text and choose Home and then Bullets. Press Enter until the list formatting switches off when the list is complete.
Use this route when paragraphs should behave as list items. Word lets you choose different marker styles from the Bullets menu, so the visual marker is part of list formatting rather than a guarantee of one fixed Unicode character.
Copy • with Windows Character Map
Open Character Map, choose a font containing the bullet, select •, copy it, and paste it into the destination app. Character Map is a literal-character method and does not create list formatting.
Insert • on a Mac
Press Fn-E or Globe-E to open Character Viewer, or choose Edit and then Emoji & Symbols. Search for bullet by name, inspect the result, and select •. Apple documents the viewer for browsing and entering symbols and other characters.
Insert • on a Chromebook
Right-click in a text field and choose Emoji, or press Search-Shift-Space. Select Symbols, open the Bullet/Stars category, and choose •. Check the glyph and code point when the picker offers several dot-like symbols.
Use bullets in Google Docs
For one literal glyph in Docs or Slides, choose Insert, Symbols, and Special characters, then find U+2022 by category, Unicode value, or drawing. Google's direct special-character picker does not apply to Sheets, where copy and paste is the documented alternative.
For a formatted list in Google Docs, press Ctrl-Shift-8 on Windows or ChromeOS, or Command-Shift-8 on Mac. Google documents these commands as starting or changing to a bulleted list. Typing an asterisk followed by a space at the beginning of a paragraph is another documented list-formatting trigger.
Use bullets and lists in HTML
A UTF-8 HTML document can contain • directly. WHATWG defines both • and • for U+2022. Decimal • and hexadecimal • represent the same character.
For an unordered list on a web page, use semantic <ul> markup with <li> children. WHATWG defines ul as a list whose item order is not important. A manually typed • can look like a marker, but it does not replace the list structure.
Fix the wrong bullet or list behavior
- 1.Compare the code point with U+2022 if the dot looks too small, hollow, or mathematically aligned.
- 2.Use Word's
2022Alt-X conversion, Character Map, Character Viewer, a symbol picker, or direct copy for one literal character. - 3.Use Word's Bullets command or Google Docs Ctrl-Shift-8 or Command-Shift-8 for list formatting.
- 4.If an asterisk and space unexpectedly starts a list, recognize that the app applied automatic formatting rather than inserting only •.
- 5.Use
ulandliin HTML when the content is a true unordered list. - 6.Remember that an HTML character reference can appear literally in a plain-text field because it is HTML source syntax, not a system-wide typing shortcut.
Common questions
Are • and · the same character?
No. • is U+2022 BULLET and · is U+00B7 MIDDLE DOT. ∙ BULLET OPERATOR, ⁃ HYPHEN BULLET, and ◦ WHITE BULLET are distinct too.
Does inserting U+2022 create a formatted list?
No. It inserts a literal character. Apply the app's list command when you want automatic continuation, indentation, and list-item behavior.
Should an HTML list use repeated • characters?
No. Use ul with li elements for an unordered list. Use the literal character or its reference only when the bullet itself is part of the text.
Official references
- Unicode General Punctuation chart
- Unicode Latin-1 Supplement chart
- Unicode Mathematical Operators chart
- Unicode Geometric Shapes chart
- Microsoft Word character-code guide
- Microsoft Character Map and Unicode guide
- Microsoft Word list-formatting guide
- Apple Character Viewer guide
- Google ChromeOS symbol-picker guide
- Google Docs special-character guide
- Google Docs screen-reader guide
- HTML named character references
- HTML character-reference syntax
- HTML unordered-list semantics
