Convert Bulleted Text to SmartArt in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows

Bulleted text slides are part of most PowerPoint presentations, even though some people abhor using bulleted content altogether. On the other hand, many others just cannot do without slides that do not contain bulleted lists. And if you are part of either of these two opposing camps, you will love this cool feature in PowerPoint that takes a middle road approach by using SmartArt. You can enhance the look of some bulleted slides by converting them to a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint.

Follow these steps to change bulleted text to a SmartArt graphic in PowerPoint 2016 for Windows:

1. Open a slide with some bulleted text in PowerPoint. Select the text within the bulleted list (only text, not the entire placeholder), or just click upon some text within the list, as shown in Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Bulleted text slide
2. With the bulleted text selected, or with the cursor placed upon the text, carefully right-click to summon the contextual menu, as shown in Figure 2, below, and choose the Convert to SmartArt option, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2. Doing so brings up the SmartArt sub-gallery, as shown in Figure 2.
3. 
   Figure 2: Convert to SmartArt option
3. Within this sub-gallery, hover your cursor over the available SmartArt graphics in this gallery to see a Live Preview of the change happening on the slide. Click to choose the SmartArt graphic you want to apply. Alternatively, to see more SmartArt graphics, click the More Smart Art Graphics option located at the bottom of the SmartArt sub-gallery, as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2, above.
4. This action summons the Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box, as shown in Figure 3, below.
5. 
   Figure 3: Choose a SmartArt Graphic dialog box
6. Select any SmartArt graphic variant you want to use, and click the OK button.
5. PowerPoint changes the bulleted text on your slide to a SmartArt graphic, as shown in Figure 4, below (compare with Figure 1, shown previously on this page). Our chosen SmartArt graphic is the Vertical Block List, but you could choose from many other variations available.
6. 
   Figure 4: Bulleted text converted to a SmartArt graphic
6. Save your presentation.