Turn lines of text into a bullet list or Markdown checklist

How to use the bullet list maker

1. Paste your items into One item per line.
2. Choose a Bullet: •, - (Markdown), * (Markdown), ◦, ▪, ➤, ✓, - [ ] Task list, or Custom….
3. For Custom, type your own marker in Custom bullet (the default is →).
4. Leave Skip empty lines ticked to remove blank lines, or untick it to keep them as spacing.
5. Copy the bulleted list from the result.

What it does and when to use it

Plain lines are hard to scan. A bullet in front of each one makes notes, meeting actions, product features or packing lists easier to read. This tool adds the bullets in one step, which helps most when you are writing somewhere that has no list button: a plain-text email, a chat message, a social post, a commit message or a Markdown file.

Choose the bullet for where the text will go. Markdown hyphens or asterisks for README files and wikis. The task list style for to-dos in GitHub issues or Obsidian. Symbols like ✓ or ➤ for social posts and slides.

If you want numbers instead, use text to numbered list. To put other text at the start or end of each line, such as HTML tags, add prefix and suffix gives you full control.

How it works

The text is read line by line. For each line the tool:

1. Measures the spaces or tabs at the start and keeps them.
2. Trims the rest of the line.
3. Writes the indentation, the bullet, one space, then the text.

Blank lines are dropped when Skip empty lines is on and left unchanged when it is off. The tool does not check for an existing bullet, so a line that already starts with “-” gets a second marker. Clean those lines first with the reverse tool. Everything runs in your browser.

Worked examples

These outputs come from the tool’s own function.

Default bullets. Three steps of a writing plan become • Plan the outline, • Write the draft, • Edit and publish.

A checklist. Buy milk, Call the bank, a blank line and Book flights with the task list style give three lines starting with - [ ]. The blank line was skipped.

Nested Markdown. Fruit, two indented lines Apple and Pear, then Veg, with the hyphen bullet, give:

- Fruit
  - Apple
  - Pear
- Veg

Limits and tips

• Indent with two or four spaces for Markdown nesting; most editors need at least two.
• The custom bullet can be several characters, such as “–” or “▶▶”.
• Very long lines stay on one line. Use the text wrapper first if you need them broken at a set width.