Cellwise

Excel guide · 2 min read

How to capitalize the first letter in Excel

To capitalize the first letter of every word, use =PROPER(A2). To capitalize only the first letter of the cell and make the rest lowercase, use =UPPER(LEFT(A2,1))&LOWER(MID(A2,2,LEN(A2))).

Sample data

Every formula on this page was calculated live against this sheet.

AB
1Raw textNote
2jANE o'BRIENname
3shipped to warehouse Bstatus
4NEW YORK CITYcity
5angus mcdonaldname
6order delayed BY 3rd partystatus

Capitalize every word with PROPER

PROPER makes the first letter of each word uppercase and every other letter lowercase. It is ideal for names, cities and product titles that came in as all caps or all lowercase.

It takes one argument, the text or cell to fix. Put it in an empty column next to your data, fill it down, and you have a cleaned copy of every row.

fx=PROPER(A4)

Result: New York City

Returns "New York City".

Capitalize only the first letter (sentence case)

Excel has no SENTENCE function, so build it. LEFT(A3,1) takes the first character and UPPER capitalizes it. MID(A3,2,LEN(A3)) takes everything from the second character on, and LOWER makes it lowercase. The & joins the two pieces.

fx=UPPER(LEFT(A6,1))&LOWER(MID(A6,2,LEN(A6)))

Result: Order delayed by 3rd party

Returns "Order delayed by 3rd party".

Capitalize the first letter and leave the rest alone

If the rest of the text already has capitals you want to keep, such as a "B" for a warehouse code or a product name like iPhone, drop the LOWER. Only the first character changes and everything after it stays exactly as typed.

This is the safer choice for notes and descriptions where you cannot be sure what else is capitalised on purpose.

fx=UPPER(LEFT(A3,1))&MID(A3,2,LEN(A3))

Result: Shipped to warehouse B

Returns "Shipped to warehouse B", keeping the capital B.

Where PROPER gets it wrong

PROPER capitalizes any letter that follows something that is not a letter. That helps with "o'brien", which becomes "O'Brien". But it also turns "3rd" into "3Rd" and "it's" into "It'S".

It also cannot know about names like McDonald or MacLeod. Check the results for names, and fix the exceptions by hand or with SUBSTITUTE.

fx=PROPER(A5)

Result: Angus Mcdonald

Returns "Angus Mcdonald", not McDonald.

Replace the original text

These are formulas in a helper column. To overwrite the original, copy the helper column, select the original, and use Home > Paste > Paste Values. Then delete the helper column.

For a one-off job, Flash Fill works too: type the corrected first value in the next column and press Ctrl+E.

Common mistakes

Using PROPER for sentences

It capitalizes every word. Use the UPPER, LEFT and MID formula for sentence case.

Leading spaces stop the capital

If the first character is a space, UPPER changes nothing visible. Wrap the text in TRIM: =UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2),1))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2))).

The formula result disappears when you delete the source

The helper column still points at the original cells. Paste it as values before you delete or overwrite the source column.

Acronyms get lowercased

PROPER turns "NASA" into "Nasa". Fix known acronyms afterwards with SUBSTITUTE, for example SUBSTITUTE(PROPER(A2),"Nasa","NASA").

FAQ

Is there a sentence case function in Excel?

No. Excel has UPPER, LOWER and PROPER only. Use =UPPER(LEFT(A2,1))&LOWER(MID(A2,2,LEN(A2))) for sentence case.

How do I change text to uppercase without a formula?

Excel has no Change Case button like Word. Use Flash Fill (Ctrl+E) after typing one example, or use a formula and paste the result as values.

Why does PROPER capitalize letters after apostrophes?

PROPER treats any non-letter as a word break. That is helpful for O'Brien but wrong for contractions like "don't", which becomes "Don'T".

Can I capitalize the first letter of each word but keep existing capitals?

Not with PROPER, which lowercases everything else. Flash Fill can follow an example that keeps them, or fix the exceptions with SUBSTITUTE.

Functions used

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Updated 2026-10-31