How to Change Text Case in Excel: A Simple Guide for Beginners

Have you ever found yourself staring at a bunch of text in Excel, wishing you could magically change it from lowercase to uppercase (or vice versa) without retyping everything? Well, you’re in luck! Excel has some handy tools to help you change the text case quickly, and I’m here to show you how to do it.

Whether you’re working on a project, cleaning up data, or just trying to make your spreadsheet look neat, learning how to change text case in Excel is a valuable skill. Let’s dive in!

Three Ways to Change Text Case in Excel

There are three main functions you can use in Excel to change the case of your text:

• UPPER – Turns everything into uppercase.
• LOWER – Makes everything lowercase.
• PROPER – Capitalizes the first letter of each word.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Using the UPPER Function (All Caps)

Let’s say you have a list of names in lowercase, and you want them to appear in ALL CAPS. Here’s what to do:

1. Select the cell where you want your result to appear.
2. Type =UPPER(A1) and hit Enter. (Replace “A1” with the cell that contains your text).
3. Voila! The text from cell A1 is now in uppercase.

You can drag the corner of the cell down to apply the formula to other cells in the same column.

2. Using the LOWER Function (All Lowercase)

If your text is in mixed or uppercase letters and you want everything to be in lowercase, the LOWER function will do the trick:

1. Click on the cell where you want the lowercase version of your text.
2. Type =LOWER(A1) and press Enter.
3. Just like magic, your text is now in lowercase!

Again, you can drag the formula down to apply it to other cells.

3. Using the PROPER Function (Capitalize Each Word)

If you have text that’s all in lowercase or uppercase, but you want each word to start with a capital letter (like a proper name or title), try the PROPER function:

1. Select the cell where you want the text to appear.
2. Enter =PROPER(A1) and press Enter.
3. Your text now looks clean and professional with each word capitalized.

Copying the New Text as Values

Once you’ve used any of these functions, you might notice that the new text is linked to the original cell. If you want to “break” that link and just keep the new text, here’s what to do:

1. Select the cells with the new text.
2. Right-click and choose “Copy.”
3. Right-click again where you want to paste and choose “Paste Special” > “Values.”

Now you’ve got clean, formatted text that’s no longer tied to the formulas!

Why Change Text Case in Excel?

Changing the case of text can help make your data easier to read and present. For example, uppercase is often used for headings, lowercase for general content, and proper case for names or titles. It’s a small touch, but it makes a big difference when you’re trying to keep things neat and professional.

A Quick Recap

• Use UPPER to make everything uppercase.
• Use LOWER to convert text to lowercase.
• Use PROPER to capitalize the first letter of each word.

With just a few simple steps, you can change the text case in Excel and make your spreadsheets look polished. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or feel free to share your favorite Excel tricks.