Bullet points and numbered lists - Formatting

You can add bullet points and numbered lists to:

  • NHS App messages
  • emails
  • letters

Use bullet points to make your text easier to read.

Use numbered lists instead of bullet points to guide a user through a process, or when the order of the items in a list is relevant.

Information:

Find out more about writing NHS messages (NHS digital service manual).

Add bullet points

To add bullet points to NHS App messages or emails:

  1. Put each item on a separate line with an asterisk and a space in front of each one.
  2. Leave an empty line before the first bullet point and after the last bullet point.

For example:

Information:

Introduce bullet points with a lead-in line ending with a colon:

* bullet point 1
* bullet point 2
 

To add bullet points to a letter, use the style List paragraph in the template and select Bullet points in the home tab.

Add a numbered list

You do not need a lead-in line for a numbered list.

Copy this example to add numbered steps to NHS App messages and emails:

Information:

 
1. Leave one empty line space before starting your list.
2. Enter a number followed by a full stop and a space to add an item.
3. Start each item with a capital letter and end it with a full stop.
4. Leave one empty line space after the last item.
 

To add a numbered list to a letter, select Numbering in the home tab of the letter template.