Word is right aligning the first line of paragraph in bulleted list

Are you editing some existing document or are you using new one?

If you are editing existing document, it is possible that there are wrong styles.

Try to

  • open new document
  • write some bullet list
  • select bullet list
  • click "copy format" (usualy icon with brush)
  • switch to your document
  • select your bullet list.

This can restore style for selected text


Turn on the ruler (Ribbon: "View", checkbox "Ruler"). Adjust the "First line indent" and the "Left indent" as desired. Your can grab and move them with your mouse.

Indent markers in Microsoft Word's ruler

Alternatively, you can pull down the bullets dropdown list and select "Customze Bulleted List". "Bullet position/Indent at" controls the position of the bullet. "Text position/Tab space after" controls the position of the text directly after the bullet. The "Text position/Indent at" controls the position of the following lines. Note that all values are relative to the page margin (and not relative to each other).

Customze Bulleted List setting in Microsoft Word

Also note that changing those settings only applies for the selected text, or the current paragraph if no text is selected.