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PowerPoint 2003 Text Formatting and Fonts - Toggle Automatically Converting Text to Lists

SUMMARY: Prevent Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 from formatting text containing asterisks, numbers, and other characters into lists.

When developing Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 presentations, depending on your configuration, after typing certain text PowerPoint will convert it to lists. For example, type the following in a slide:

* This will become a bulleted list

Press ENTER, and the asterisk will turn into a bullet. Typing 1) or 1. in front of text and pressing ENTER will turn the text into a numbered list, changing the formatting of your text slightly.

Some find this automatic feature helpful; others find it annoying and only wish to use lists when they manually click the bulleted or numbered list toolbar button. Thus, to change PowerPoint's settings:

1. Select "Tools" - "AutoCorect Options".

2. The "AutoCorrect" multi-tabbed dialog box will appear. Click the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab.

3. Underneath "Apply as you type", check or uncheck "Automatic bulleted and numbered lists" as desired.

4. Click "OK" to save your settings.