Word 2013. I want to use the round black dot as my default bullet symbol. However, the black arrow always appears when I click on the bullets button. I never use the black arrow. In previous versions of Word, clicking on the bullets button would automatically insert the last-used bullet, which in my case would be the round black dot.

On the Paragraph portion of the Home toolbar, click on the arrow (next to the bullets) to select the bullet type you want (black dot) from the bullet library. Once used, it will be your default for your document. (There are probably other formal procedures but, this seems to be the quickest).