A text box can contain hidden list styles, which are instructions that define the default formatting for any bulleted list subsequently added.
These list styles can cause issues even when your text box doesn't include a bulleted list because they may:
- Trigger font warnings
- Include fonts that can only be seen using Slidewise
- Result in visual effects that cannot be edited with PowerPoint
How does it happen?
Duplicating a content placeholder in PowerPoint creates a new, independent text box. This text box retains a snapshot of the List Styles (all 9 levels) from the Layout at the time of duplication. Because it is no longer a true placeholder, these styles become 'orphaned' and are disconnected from the master layout. Consequently, they will not automatically update if you later modify the styles on your Layouts. Furthermore, copying this text box to other presentations will carry these styles with it. This process is a common way for unwanted fonts to be introduced into presentations (more details on this can be found here).
We’d recommend where possible to avoid duplicating placeholders for this reason, and instead create new text boxes to place your content into.
How can you spot if you have this problem?
In the Slidewise Inspector, the presence of a "Hidden list styles" node, located above Fonts, indicates that a Text Box contains hidden list styles. This is shown in the image below:
If certain fonts are not visible in the PowerPoint user interface, it is likely they are set in the list styles. To eliminate these unseen fonts, you can simply delete the corresponding list styles.
To verify if the fonts can be edited in PowerPoint you need to check a few places. The fonts will have labels in Slidewise indicating whether they are used in bullets, or normal text. This tells you whether you need to check the bullet formatting or normal font formatting in PowerPoint. Help is available here on how to locate fonts using PowerPoint.
Should I remove hidden list styles?
If you aren't experiencing any direct issues, there is no need to remove list styles.
However, if the text box has fonts or formatting that you want to eliminate and you can't see any way to do it. Just right-click on the node in the Inspector and choose Delete Hidden List Styles. This will remove any background list styles - but will not affect any directly set formatting you may have applied.
See all text boxes with list styles
Switch to File Review to see all of the text boxes that have hidden list styles across your whole presentation.
This tool also gives you the option to delete list styles from all affected text boxes at once.
Other Bullet font issues
Residual formatting can sometimes cause text boxes in PowerPoint to display bullet fonts, even without an active bulleted list. This is often the result of copied formatting that PowerPoint hasn't recognized as unnecessary.
To resolve this and remove the unwanted formatting, follow these steps:
- Activate Bullets: Turn on the bullet feature for the affected text box and select a basic bullet style.
- Deactivate Bullets: Immediately set the bullet style back to None.
This action will trigger PowerPoint's clean-up process, removing the rogue formatting.