Disable Automatic Formatting for Bullets

From an Outlook user:

My problem is that whenever I type two hyphens, Outlook automatically thinks that I want it start a bulleted list and it will change my two hyphens into a bullet. That would be fine and dandy, but the automatic bullets in Outlook are not recognized by our accounting software and do not transfer over when I copy/paste. To get around this, I have been typing the two hyphens, letting Outlook turn them into a bullet, and then hitting the “undo” button to undo the auto-bullet. It’s a pain to say the least given how often I add time entries into Outlook.

I've tried a number of things in Word (hoping there's some link between the two, or at least being able to zero in on what I'd need to change in Outlook). I've tried editing the auto-correct options for "–", and I've tried shutting off automatic bulleted lists (note that neither solved the issue in Word). Didn't seem to find any similar/good options in Outlook.

How do I tell Outlook to STOP creating an auto-bullet out of my two hyphens?!?

First, don't hit the Undo button with your mouse – use Ctrl+Z to undo. It's faster.

Secondly, the settings you seek are not in Word, they are in Outlook. Check out File, Options, Mail, Editor Options, Proofing, Autocorrect Options, Autoformat as you type. Automatic bullet formatting is in the center section.

Reader Yuri makes this suggestion: If you use the autocorrect smart tag menu, you can disable the setting or open the autocorrect/autoformat settings. This button should be visible after autocorrect or autoformat makes a change.

Published July 19, 2011. Last updated on October 25, 2020.