diff --git a/components/email/__tests__/plain-text-paste.test.ts b/components/email/__tests__/plain-text-paste.test.ts
index 5a517ee5b..b47db7795 100644
--- a/components/email/__tests__/plain-text-paste.test.ts
+++ b/components/email/__tests__/plain-text-paste.test.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ function paste(editor: Editor, text: string) {
 }
 
 describe('plain-text paste', () => {
+  // A paste that ends in a list leaves the empty paragraph the cursor was in
+  // below it, hence the trailing <p></p> in those expectations.
   it('keeps blank lines as empty paragraphs', () => {
     const editor = makeEditor();
     paste(editor, 'Hi Joost,\n\nThanks for the write-up.\n\n\nPHASE 1');
@@ -43,6 +45,78 @@ describe('plain-text paste', () => {
     editor.destroy();
   });
 
+  it('turns dash items into a bullet list, dropping the blank lines between them', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, 'How it works:\n\n- One\n\n- Two\n\nAfter');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<p>How it works:</p><p></p>' +
+        '<ul><li><p>One</p></li><li><p>Two</p></li></ul>' +
+        '<p></p><p>After</p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('accepts * and • as bullet markers', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '* One\n• Two');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe('<ul><li><p>One</p></li><li><p>Two</p></li></ul><p></p>');
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('turns numbered items into an ordered list that keeps its first number', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '1. One\n2) Two\n\nText\n\n3. Three\n4. Four');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<ol><li><p>One</p></li><li><p>Two</p></li></ol><p></p><p>Text</p><p></p>' +
+        '<ol start="3"><li><p>Three</p></li><li><p>Four</p></li></ol><p></p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('starts a new list where a numbered list switches to dashes', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '1. One\n\n- Dash');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<ol><li><p>One</p></li></ol><p></p><ul><li><p>Dash</p></li></ul><p></p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps indented lines inside the item above them', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '- Both drafts:\n  filenode-14\n  blobext-01\n\nAfter');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<ul><li><p>Both drafts:</p><p>filenode-14</p><p>blobext-01</p></li></ul>' +
+        '<p></p><p>After</p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('nests indented items', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '- Outer\n  - Inner\n- Next');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<ul><li><p>Outer</p><ul><li><p>Inner</p></li></ul></li><li><p>Next</p></li></ul><p></p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps a hard-wrapped item whole', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, '- A long item that the\nsender wrapped\n- Next');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe(
+      '<ul><li><p>A long item that the</p><p>sender wrapped</p></li><li><p>Next</p></li></ul><p></p>',
+    );
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
+  it('leaves a signature delimiter and a dash inside a sentence alone', () => {
+    const editor = makeEditor();
+    paste(editor, 'Costs - roughly\n-- \nLinus');
+    expect(editor.getHTML()).toBe('<p>Costs - roughly</p><p>-- </p><p>Linus</p>');
+    editor.destroy();
+  });
+
   it('copies back out as the same text', () => {
     const text = 'Hi Joost,\n\nThanks for the write-up.\n\n\nPHASE 1';
     const editor = makeEditor();
diff --git a/components/email/plain-text-paste.ts b/components/email/plain-text-paste.ts
index ded9db99a..50c7bf4e8 100644
--- a/components/email/plain-text-paste.ts
+++ b/components/email/plain-text-paste.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,124 @@
 import { Extension } from "@tiptap/core";
-import { Fragment, Slice } from "@tiptap/pm/model";
+import { Fragment, Slice, type Mark, type Node, type Schema } from "@tiptap/pm/model";
 import { Plugin, PluginKey } from "@tiptap/pm/state";
 
+type PlainBlock =
+  | { type: "line"; text: string }
+  | { type: "list"; ordered: boolean; start: number; items: PlainBlock[][] };
+
+interface ItemMarker {
+  indent: number;
+  ordered: boolean;
+  start: number;
+  content: string;
+}
+
+// "- ", "* ", "• ", "1. " or "1) " followed by the item text.
+const ITEM_MARKER = /^([ \t]*)(?:[-*•]|(\d{1,3})[.)])[ \t]+(?=\S)/;
+
+const isBlank = (line: string) => line.trim() === "";
+
+function indentOf(line: string): number {
+  const lead = /^[ \t]*/.exec(line)![0];
+  return lead.replace(/\t/g, "    ").length;
+}
+
+function dedent(line: string, columns: number): string {
+  let i = 0;
+  for (let col = 0; i < line.length && col < columns; i++) {
+    if (line[i] === " ") col += 1;
+    else if (line[i] === "\t") col += 4;
+    else break;
+  }
+  return line.slice(i);
+}
+
+function itemMarker(line: string): ItemMarker | null {
+  const m = ITEM_MARKER.exec(line);
+  if (!m) return null;
+  return {
+    indent: indentOf(m[1]),
+    ordered: m[2] !== undefined,
+    start: m[2] !== undefined ? Number(m[2]) : 1,
+    content: line.slice(m[0].length),
+  };
+}
+
+function parseLines(lines: string[]): PlainBlock[] {
+  const blocks: PlainBlock[] = [];
+  let i = 0;
+  while (i < lines.length) {
+    const marker = itemMarker(lines[i]);
+    if (marker) {
+      const items: PlainBlock[][] = [];
+      i = parseList(lines, i, marker, items);
+      blocks.push({ type: "list", ordered: marker.ordered, start: marker.start, items });
+    } else {
+      blocks.push({ type: "line", text: isBlank(lines[i]) ? "" : lines[i] });
+      i++;
+    }
+  }
+  return blocks;
+}
+
 /**
- * Pastes plain text as one paragraph per line, blank lines included.
+ * Reads the items of one list starting at `i` into `items` and returns the
+ * index of the first line after it. An item takes the lines indented under
+ * it (continuations and nested lists) and, like Markdown, unindented lines
+ * that follow it directly, so hard-wrapped items stay whole. Blank lines
+ * between items are dropped; blank lines after the list are left for the
+ * caller.
+ */
+function parseList(lines: string[], i: number, first: ItemMarker, items: PlainBlock[][]): number {
+  let marker = first;
+  for (;;) {
+    const body: { text: string; indented: boolean }[] = [];
+    let j = i + 1;
+    let end = j;
+    let lazy = true;
+    while (j < lines.length) {
+      const line = lines[j];
+      if (isBlank(line)) {
+        lazy = false;
+        j++;
+        continue;
+      }
+      const indented = indentOf(line) > marker.indent;
+      if (!indented && !(lazy && !itemMarker(line))) break;
+      for (let k = end; k < j; k++) body.push({ text: "", indented: false });
+      body.push({ text: line, indented });
+      end = ++j;
+      lazy = true;
+    }
+
+    const shift = Math.min(...body.filter((l) => l.indented).map((l) => indentOf(l.text)));
+    const rest = body.map((l) => (l.indented ? dedent(l.text, shift) : l.text.trimStart()));
+    items.push([{ type: "line", text: marker.content }, ...parseLines(rest)]);
+
+    let next = end;
+    while (next < lines.length && isBlank(lines[next])) next++;
+    const sibling = next < lines.length ? itemMarker(lines[next]) : null;
+    if (!sibling || sibling.ordered !== first.ordered || sibling.indent !== first.indent) return end;
+    i = next;
+    marker = sibling;
+  }
+}
+
+function toNodes(blocks: PlainBlock[], schema: Schema, marks: readonly Mark[]): Node[] {
+  return blocks.map((block) => {
+    if (block.type === "line") {
+      return schema.nodes.paragraph.create(null, block.text ? schema.text(block.text, marks) : null);
+    }
+    const items = block.items.map((item) => schema.nodes.listItem.create(null, toNodes(item, schema, marks)));
+    return block.ordered
+      ? schema.nodes.orderedList.create({ start: block.start }, items)
+      : schema.nodes.bulletList.create(null, items);
+  });
+}
+
+/**
+ * Pastes plain text as one paragraph per line, blank lines included, and
+ * turns "- " / "1. " items into real lists.
  *
  * In the composer Enter starts a new paragraph and a blank line is an empty
  * paragraph. ProseMirror's default text paste splits on runs of newlines
@@ -21,13 +136,8 @@ export const PlainTextPaste = Extension.create({
         key: new PluginKey("plainTextPaste"),
         props: {
           clipboardTextParser: (text, $context) => {
-            const marks = $context.marks();
-            const paragraphs = text
-              .split(/\r\n?|\n/)
-              .map((line) =>
-                schema.nodes.paragraph.create(null, line ? schema.text(line, marks) : null),
-              );
-            return Slice.maxOpen(Fragment.from(paragraphs));
+            const blocks = parseLines(text.split(/\r\n?|\n/));
+            return Slice.maxOpen(Fragment.from(toNodes(blocks, schema, $context.marks())));
           },
         },
       }),