Spreadsheet Practice

How to convert text to sentence case in Excel

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2)))

Capitalize the first letter and lowercase the rest: =UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2))).

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B6
Works in
Every current version
Google Sheets
Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B6. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

LEFT takes the first character and UPPER capitalizes it; MID takes everything from the second character on and LOWER lowercases it. TRIM first means a leading space doesn't get "capitalized" instead of the first letter.

=UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2)))

Result"Ergonomic chair with lumbar support"

  1. A2"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"

    The value in A2.

  2. TRIM(A2)"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"

    TRIM: Removes extra spaces, leaving single spaces between words.

    • textA2"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
  3. LEFT(TRIM(A2))"E"

    LEFT: Characters from the start of text.

    • textTRIM(A2)"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
  4. UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))"E"

    UPPER: Converts to uppercase.

    • textLEFT(TRIM(A2))"E"
  5. TRIM(A2)"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"

    TRIM: Removes extra spaces, leaving single spaces between words.

    • textA2"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
  6. LEN(A2)35

    LEN: Number of characters.

    • textA2"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
  7. MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2))"RGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"

    MID: Characters from the middle of text.

    • textTRIM(A2)"ERGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
    • start_num2
    • num_charsLEN(A2)35
  8. LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2)))"rgonomic chair with lumbar support"

    LOWER: Converts to lowercase.

    • textMID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2))"RGONOMIC CHAIR WITH LUMBAR SUPPORT"
  9. UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2)))"Ergonomic chair with lumbar support"

    The & operator joins as text.

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2)))&LOWER(MID(TRIM(A2),2,LEN(A2))). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=REPLACE(LOWER(TRIM(A2)),1,1,UPPER(LEFT(TRIM(A2))))Ergonomic chair with lumbar support, Wireless mouse, black, Standing desk…Lowercase everything, then replace the first character with its capital.

Common mistakes

  • Acronyms are lowercased too: "USB-C" becomes "Usb-c". Fix known ones with SUBSTITUTE afterwards.
  • Only the first letter of the cell is capitalized. A second sentence after a period stays lowercase.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Convert text to sentence case

In B2, convert the description to sentence case (first letter capital, the rest lowercase) and fill down to B6.

Questions

How do I capitalize the first letter but leave the rest unchanged?

Skip the LOWER: =UPPER(LEFT(A2))&MID(A2,2,LEN(A2)).

How do I capitalize every word?

Use =PROPER(A2).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.