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Bullet points are auto-formatting to a smaller text, cannot seem to change

Danielle Berggren 20 Reputation points
2026-02-03T16:27:38.58+00:00

I have Microsoft Office 2024 for Mac, version 16.105.2

Running on MacBook Pro 2020, OS Tahoe 26.2

The problem:

Ever since the second-to-last (two week ago or thereabouts) update to MS Word 2024, every time I do bullet points or a list of any kind, it reduces the size of the font automatically down a point. It's driving me nuts. I have to manually change the size of the font on the entire document to get it to change. Sometimes highlighting just the list and trying to change the font that way results in some spacing changes, but no font change. Again, it's driving me nuts. I use lists a lot with my writing and this is definitely getting to a point of being unworkable.

Please advise, how to fix. I have gone through Format > Style and modified all fonts to be size 12, but those bullet points keep coming in at font size 11. All my formatting should be size 12.

I appreciate any assistance.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Other
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Answer accepted by question author

Norah-L 6,790 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-02-04T02:56:40.91+00:00

Hello Danielle Berggren,

Welcome to the Q&A forum!

From what you described, Microsoft Word (Microsoft Office 2024 for Mac, version 16.105.2) automatically reduces the font size for bullet points to 11 instead of your desired size of 12.

Apologies for the inconvenience, this behavior is actually by design. Word applies the List Paragraph style to bulleted lists, and that style may be using a different default font size than the one you’re currently using. The purpose of this behavior is to keep list formatting consistent across the document, even when your normal text uses another style.

To make Word use your preferred font size for bullets:

  • Click after any existing bullet
  • Press Ctrl + Shift + S to open the Apply Styles pane > then click Modify.
  • Choose the font size you want for bulleted paragraphs > OK
  • Optional: You can also select “New documents based on this template” if you want this style change to new documents.

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This updates the List Paragraph style so every bullet point in the file uses the size you choose.

Hope this could address your concern. I'm here if you need more clarification!

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