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Text to List
Transform raw lines of text into professionally formatted ordered or unordered lists
Add list markers to lines of plain text
You have a handful of items typed one per line and you need them to look like a proper list in an email, a chat message, a caption or a plain-text document. Adding a bullet or number to each line manually is tedious, especially when the list changes. This tool prefixes every line with the marker style you choose.
Making a list
- Enter your items in Input Text (One item per line). The placeholder shows a simple example with three fruit names.
- Open the List Style menu and choose Bullet Points, Numbered, Dashed or Checklist.
- Click Generate List.
- Check Formatted List Output, then click Copy List.
Changing the input after generating hides the old output, so the copy button always matches what you see.
The four styles
- Bullet Points put a round bullet and a space before each item.
- Numbered counts up from 1 and adds a period, as in 1. 2. 3.
- Dashed uses a hyphen and a space, which is convenient for Markdown-style notes.
- Checklist uses a checkmark symbol, useful for done lists and packing lists.
Good situations for it
- Formatting a feature list for a social media post that does not support real bullets.
- Turning a brainstorm into a numbered agenda for a meeting invite.
- Building a packing or shopping checklist to paste into a notes app.
- Creating dashed lists for commit messages, release notes or README files.
How lines are handled
- Blank or whitespace-only lines are removed, and every remaining line is trimmed before its marker is added.
- Numbers are assigned after blank lines are removed, so the sequence has no gaps.
- The markers are typed characters, not real list formatting. Pasting into Word or a rich text editor will give you text that looks like a list, but not an actual list object.
- The tool does not detect markers that are already there. If a line already begins with a dash or a number, you will get a double marker, so clear old markers first with toolthe List to Text .
- Nested or indented lists are not supported; each line becomes a flat item.
The result is generated by JavaScript in your browser and can be pasted anywhere that accepts plain text.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What list styles can I create?
There are four: bullet points using a round bullet, numbered items like 1. 2. 3., dashed items using a hyphen, and a checklist that uses a checkmark symbol. You choose the style in the List Style menu before generating.
Are empty lines kept?
No. Empty and whitespace-only lines are removed before the markers are added, and numbered lists are counted after that removal, so the numbers run 1, 2, 3 in order without any gaps in between them.
Will this create a real list in Word or Google Docs?
No. It produces plain text with typed symbols in front of each line. It looks like a list, but a word processor will treat it as ordinary paragraphs, so it will not auto-renumber or indent.
What if my lines already have bullets or numbers?
They will be kept and a new marker added in front, giving a double marker. Remove the old ones first, for example with the List to Text tool on this site, and then generate the new list.
Can I make nested lists?
No. Every non-empty line becomes a flat list item and leading indentation is trimmed. If you need sub-items, add the indentation yourself after copying the result into your document or message.