diff --git a/src/widgets/krichtextedit.cpp b/src/widgets/krichtextedit.cpp
--- a/src/widgets/krichtextedit.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/krichtextedit.cpp
@@ -533,9 +533,7 @@
 {
     bool handled = false;
     if (textCursor().currentList()) {
-        // handled is False if the key press event was not handled or not completely
-        // handled by the Helper class.
-        handled = d->nestedListHelper->handleBeforeKeyPressEvent(event);
+        handled = d->nestedListHelper->handleKeyPressEvent(event);
     }
 
     // If a line was merged with previous (next) one, with different heading level,
@@ -572,9 +570,6 @@
         textCursor().endEditBlock();
     }
 
-    if (textCursor().currentList()) {
-        d->nestedListHelper->handleAfterKeyPressEvent(event);
-    }
     emit cursorPositionChanged();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper.cpp b/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper.cpp
--- a/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper.cpp
+++ b/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper.cpp
@@ -31,107 +31,69 @@
 NestedListHelper::NestedListHelper(QTextEdit *te)
 {
     textEdit = te;
-    listBottomMargin = 12;
-    listTopMargin = 12;
-    listNoMargin = 0;
 }
 
 NestedListHelper::~NestedListHelper()
 {
 }
 
-bool NestedListHelper::handleBeforeKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event)
+bool NestedListHelper::handleKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event)
 {
     QTextCursor cursor = textEdit->textCursor();
-
-    // Only attempt to handle Backspace while on a list
-    if ((event->key() != Qt::Key_Backspace)
-            || (!cursor.currentList())) {
+    if (!cursor.currentList()) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    bool handled = false;
+    if (event->key() == Qt::Key_Backspace && !cursor.hasSelection() && cursor.atBlockStart() && canDedent()) {
+        handleOnIndentLess();
+        return true;
+    }
 
-    if (!cursor.hasSelection()
-            && cursor.currentList()
-            && event->key() == Qt::Key_Backspace
-            && cursor.atBlockStart()) {
+    if (event->key() == Qt::Key_Return && !cursor.hasSelection() && cursor.block().text().isEmpty() && canDedent()) {
         handleOnIndentLess();
-        handled = true;
+        return true;
     }
 
-    return handled;
+    if (event->key() == Qt::Key_Tab && (cursor.atBlockStart() || cursor.hasSelection()) && canIndent()) {
+        handleOnIndentMore();
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    return false;
 }
 
 bool NestedListHelper::canIndent() const
 {
-    if ((textEdit->textCursor().block().isValid())
-//            && (  textEdit->textCursor().block().previous().isValid() )
-       ) {
-        QTextBlock block = textEdit->textCursor().block();
-        QTextBlock prevBlock = textEdit->textCursor().block().previous();
-        if (block.textList()) {
-            if (prevBlock.textList()) {
-                return block.textList()->format().indent() <= prevBlock.textList()->format().indent();
-            }
-        } else {
-            return true;
-        }
+    QTextCursor cursor = topOfSelection();
+    QTextBlock block = cursor.block();
+    QTextBlock prevBlock = block.previous();
+    if (!block.isValid()) {
+        return false;
     }
-    return false;
+    if (!block.textList()) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    if (!prevBlock.textList()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    return block.textList()->format().indent() <= prevBlock.textList()->format().indent();
 }
 
 bool NestedListHelper::canDedent() const
 {
-    QTextBlock thisBlock = textEdit->textCursor().block();
-    QTextBlock nextBlock = thisBlock.next();
-    if (thisBlock.isValid()) {
-        int nextBlockIndent = 0;
-        if (nextBlock.isValid() && nextBlock.textList()) {
-            nextBlockIndent = nextBlock.textList()->format().indent();
-        }
-        if (thisBlock.textList()) {
-            const int thisBlockIndent = thisBlock.textList()->format().indent();
-            if (thisBlockIndent >= nextBlockIndent) {
-                return thisBlock.textList()->format().indent() > 0;
-            }
-        }
+    QTextCursor cursor = bottomOfSelection();
+    QTextBlock block = cursor.block();
+    QTextBlock nextBlock = block.next();
+    if (!block.isValid()) {
+        return false;
     }
-    return false;
-
-}
-
-bool NestedListHelper::handleAfterKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event)
-{
-    // Only attempt to handle Backspace and Return
-    if ((event->key() != Qt::Key_Backspace)
-            && (event->key() != Qt::Key_Return)) {
+    if (!block.textList() || block.textList()->format().indent() <= 0) {
         return false;
     }
-
-    QTextCursor cursor = textEdit->textCursor();
-    bool handled = false;
-
-    if (!cursor.hasSelection() && cursor.currentList()) {
-
-        // Check if we're on the last list item.
-        // itemNumber is zero indexed
-        QTextBlock currentBlock = cursor.block();
-        if (cursor.currentList()->count() == cursor.currentList()->itemNumber(currentBlock) + 1) {
-            // Last block in this list, but may have just gained another list below.
-            if (currentBlock.next().textList()) {
-                reformatList();
-            }
-
-            // No need to reformatList in this case. reformatList is slow.
-            if ((event->key() == Qt::Key_Return) || (event->key() == Qt::Key_Backspace)) {
-                handled = true;
-            }
-        } else {
-            reformatList();
-        }
+    if (!nextBlock.textList()) {
+        return true;
     }
-    return handled;
+    return block.textList()->format().indent() >= nextBlock.textList()->format().indent();
 }
 
 bool NestedListHelper::handleAfterDropEvent(QDropEvent *dropEvent)
@@ -219,7 +181,7 @@
     reformatList(cursor.block());
 }
 
-QTextCursor NestedListHelper::topOfSelection()
+QTextCursor NestedListHelper::topOfSelection() const
 {
     QTextCursor cursor = textEdit->textCursor();
 
@@ -229,7 +191,7 @@
     return cursor;
 }
 
-QTextCursor NestedListHelper::bottomOfSelection()
+QTextCursor NestedListHelper::bottomOfSelection() const
 {
     QTextCursor cursor = textEdit->textCursor();
 
@@ -242,6 +204,7 @@
 void NestedListHelper::handleOnIndentMore()
 {
     QTextCursor cursor = textEdit->textCursor();
+    cursor.beginEditBlock();
 
     QTextListFormat listFmt;
     if (!cursor.currentList()) {
@@ -270,6 +233,7 @@
         cursor.createList(listFmt);
         reformatList();
     }
+    cursor.endEditBlock();
 }
 
 void NestedListHelper::handleOnIndentLess()
@@ -279,6 +243,7 @@
     if (!currentList) {
         return;
     }
+    cursor.beginEditBlock();
     QTextListFormat listFmt;
     listFmt = currentList->format();
     if (listFmt.indent() > 1) {
@@ -291,6 +256,7 @@
         cursor.setBlockFormat(bfmt);
         reformatList(cursor.block().next());
     }
+    cursor.endEditBlock();
 }
 
 void NestedListHelper::handleOnBulletType(int styleIndex)
diff --git a/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper_p.h b/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper_p.h
--- a/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper_p.h
+++ b/src/widgets/nestedlisthelper_p.h
@@ -61,26 +61,16 @@
      *
      * Handles a key press before it is processed by the text edit widget.
      *
-     * Currently this causes a backspace at the beginning of a line or with a
-     * multi-line selection to decrease the nesting level of the list.
+     * This includes:
+     *   1. Backspace at the beginning of a line decreases nesting level
+     *   2. Return at the empty list element decreases nesting level
+     *   3. Tab at the beginning of a line OR with a multi-line selection
+     * increases nesting level
      *
      * @param event The event to be handled
      * @return Whether the event was completely handled by this method.
      */
-    bool handleBeforeKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event);
-
-    /**
-     *
-     * Handles a key press after it is processed by the text edit widget.
-     *
-     * Currently this causes a Return at the end of the last list item, or
-     * a Backspace after the last list item to recalculate the spacing
-     * between the list items.
-     *
-     * @param event The event to be handled
-     * @return Whether the event was completely handled by this method.
-     */
-    bool handleAfterKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event);
+    bool handleKeyPressEvent(QKeyEvent *event);
 
     bool handleAfterDropEvent(QDropEvent *event);
 
@@ -119,27 +109,23 @@
     /**
      * \brief Check whether the current item in the list may be dedented.
      *
-     * An item may be dedented if it is part of a list. Otherwise it can't be.
+     * An item may be dedented if it is part of a list.
+     * The next item must be at the same or lesser level.
      *
      * @sa canIndent
      *
      * @return Whether the item can be dedented.
      */
     bool canDedent() const;
 
 private:
-    QTextCursor topOfSelection();
-    QTextCursor bottomOfSelection();
+    QTextCursor topOfSelection() const;
+    QTextCursor bottomOfSelection() const;
     void processList(QTextList *list);
     void reformatList(QTextBlock block);
     void reformatList();
 
     QTextEdit *textEdit = nullptr;
-
-    int listBottomMargin;
-    int listTopMargin;
-    int listNoMargin;
-
 };
 
 //@endcond