How to avoid "automatic" behaviour in comments (replacement of "- " with indentation)

Question

I want to have a comment looking like this:

• text1
• text2

As soon as I type "- ", the "- " is replaced with a right indentation of about 5 spaces. This indentation is not even possible to delete, unless I delete the whole comment and start from zero. Apparently, there is no way to have a line starting with "- ", it is replaced with "5 spaces unbreakable indentation" without any other option. I have to use "-text1" instead which looks ugly.

I know there is "Turn on or off automatic bullets or numbering in Word" article (Go to File > Options > Proofing. Select AutoCorrect Options, and then select the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Select or clear Automatic bulleted lists or Automatic numbered lists). It is all done. It just does not help for comments. Is it a bug specific to just comments?

Answer 1

At the time when you see an automatic replacement, such as a hyphen being replaced with a bulleted list, you can press Ctrl+Z to Undo the creation of the list.

If you want to turn off automatic replacements completely, you can do that instead. Go to File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type. Clear all the options under Apply as you type. Confirm with OK.

Answer 2

Dear @Maksym Shevchenko,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. I understand that you want to type lines in a Word comment that begin with "- " without Word automatically turning them into a bulleted/indented list.

In Modern comments, you can select text and use the Home tab to apply basic formatting: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, font color, and highlighting. However, changing font size, applying styles, or adjusting paragraph settings is not currently supported.

Besides what Stefan Blom suggested, I recommend the steps below

1/ Temporarily switch to legacy comments
Go to File > Options > General, clear “Enable modern comments,” then restart Word. Microsoft notes this switch is temporary.

2/ Use a dash that does not trigger lists: insert an en dash (–) by Ctrl + (-) or use Insert > Symbol.

For more information: Using Modern comments in Word

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

I truly appreciate your patience and understanding. If you have any further questions or need further clarification, please feel free to reach out. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

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