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I have tried to research this but all of a sudden, when i try to change the bullet point in my word doc it wont let me change the list level when i hit backspace. I can hit tab and it will change the list level and when i try to go up list levels it doesnt allow me to. I tried the whole Office button > 'Word Options' button > 'Proofing' tab > 'AutoCorrect Options...' button > 'AutoFormat As You Type' tab > check 'Set left- and first-indent with tabs and backspaces'. I tried it with it unchecked, which obviously didn't work and i tried unchecking clicking OK and tried to check it again, but no luck, tried it with a brand new doc, still same issue. Any help?
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Answer accepted by question author
Assuming that the insertion point is at the beginning of the bulleted paragraph, try Shift+Tab instead.
You can use Backspace to suppress the bullet (or number) without changing the indentation, but, as Suzanne wrote, I don't think it can be reliably used to change list levels.
Recent versions of Word let you change list levels, one at a time, by pressing Enter. The first time you press Enter you get an entry at the same level as the preceding item. If you press it again, you will get the next higher list level. When you reach level 1 and press Enter again, the list will "end."
Of course, applying a paragraph style that does not include bullets or numbering will be quicker.
Yea i guess that's a solution, I'm still curious to see why backspace stopped working though. Thanks for your help.
I've never found Backspace reliable for this. As Stefan points out, Shift+Tab does work.
The tab portion works perfectly, its the backspace that does not. I can hit return when im done with a line and it will go to the next bullet point and i can tab over but i can not for some reason backspace to change the list level, I used to be able to, but all of a sudden i have lost that ability. Windows update maybe? Anyone else have this issue with recent 2010 office updates?