# How to capitalize the first letter of each word in Excel

Use =PROPER(A2). It capitalizes the first letter of every word and lowercases the rest.

**Excel:** `=PROPER(A2)` (Every current version)

**Google Sheets:** the same formula works.

## Example

Sample data (row 1 is the header):

| A | B |
| --- | --- |
| Raw | Proper case |
| maria lopez |  |
| JAMES SMITH |  |
| aiko TANAKA |  |
| lars eriksen |  |
| new york city |  |

Formula in B2, filled to B6: `=PROPER(A2)`

Result: Maria Lopez; James Smith; Aiko Tanaka; Lars Eriksen; New York City

## How it works

PROPER treats any letter after a space or punctuation as the start of a word and capitalizes it, and lowercases every other letter. UPPER and LOWER convert the whole text.

## Other ways

- `=UPPER(LEFT(A2,1))&LOWER(MID(A2,2,LEN(A2)))`: Capitalizes only the first letter of the whole text, like a sentence. ("Maria lopez" instead of "Maria Lopez".)

## Common mistakes

- PROPER capitalizes after apostrophes and hyphens too: "o'neil" becomes "O'Neil", which is right, but "don't" becomes "Don'T".
- Names like "McDonald" or "van der Berg" need manual fixes after PROPER.

## Questions

**How do I make text all caps?**

Use `=UPPER(A2)`. `=LOWER(A2)` makes it all lowercase.

**Does Google Sheets have PROPER?**

Yes, it works the same way.

Every formula and result on this page was checked by running it in the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine on 2026-10-29.

Source: https://spreadsheetpractice.com/formulas/capitalize-first-letter-of-each-word