The Unwanted Hierarchy
When you are creating a list in Google Docs (either bulleted or numbered), the software tries to intuitively build an outline structure for you. If you are on a bullet point, press Enter to go to the next line, and then press the Tab key, Docs assumes you want to create a sub-point. It automatically indents the text significantly to the right and changes the bullet style (e.g., from a solid circle to a hollow circle). While this is perfect for standard outlining, it is incredibly frustrating if you simply wanted to insert a standard tab space after the bullet to align text, or if you prefer all your list items to remain flush left regardless of how you format the text within them.
Controlling List Indentation
To maintain strict control over your document’s layout and stop Google Docs from automatically indenting your lists and creating sub-tiers when you press the Tab key, you must adjust the list formatting.
Google Docs hard-codes the Tab key to control list hierarchy when a list is active. To stop it from indenting the actual bullet point, you cannot just press Tab. If you are trying to align text next to the bullet, you should use the ruler at the top of the document. Click on the ruler where you want the text to start and select Add left tab stop. Then, when you type, press Ctrl+Tab (not just Tab) to jump to that stop without indenting the bullet itself. If you accidentally indented a bullet point to a sub-tier, do not use Backspace; instead, hold Shift and press Tab to instantly outdent the bullet back to the primary, flush-left margin.