The fastest way to change case in Word

Open the document and select the text you want to change. Go to the Home tab on the ribbon at the top. In the right section of the ribbon, find the Aa button labeled "Change Case" — it looks like capital and lowercase letters. Click the dropdown arrow next to it and choose from five options: Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word, or tOGGLE cASE.

That's the entire process. The text changes instantly. If you don't like the result, press Ctrl+Z to undo and try a different option.

Key Takeaways

  • The Change Case button is on the Home tab in the ribbon, marked with "Aa" and a small dropdown arrow.
  • You must select the text first — Word will not change case for text you haven't highlighted.
  • Sentence case capitalizes only the first letter of each sentence, while Capitalize Each Word capitalizes the first letter of every word.
  • UPPERCASE and lowercase convert all letters to capitals or all lowercase, and tOGGLE cASE flips the case of every letter.

Where to find the Change Case button if you can't see it

The Change Case button appears on the Home tab by default in Word 2016 and later versions. If your ribbon looks different, you may be using an older version of Word or a different application like Google Docs or LibreOffice.

In Word 2010 and 2013, the button is in the same location but may be harder to spot. Look for the "Aa" icon in the Font section of the Home tab. If you still don't see it, your ribbon may be customized. You can restore the default ribbon by going to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar, then clicking "Reset" and choosing "Reset all customizations."

What each case option does

Sentence case capitalizes the first letter of the first word and leaves the rest lowercase. Use this when you've typed in all caps and need normal sentence formatting. Example: "the quick brown fox" becomes "The quick brown fox."

lowercase converts every letter to lowercase. Example: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX" becomes "the quick brown fox."

UPPERCASE converts every letter to capitals. Example: "The quick brown fox" becomes "THE QUICK BROWN FOX."

Capitalize Each Word capitalizes the first letter of every word and leaves the rest lowercase. Use this for titles or headings. Example: "the quick brown fox" becomes "The Quick Brown Fox."

tOGGLE cASE flips the case of every single letter. Capitals become lowercase and lowercase become capitals. This is rarely useful except as a quick way to undo a previous case change. Example: "The Quick Brown Fox" becomes "tHE qUICK bROWN fOX."

Changing case in older versions of Word or on Mac

If you're using Word 2007 or earlier on Windows, the Change Case button may not exist on the ribbon. Instead, go to the Format menu at the top, then select Text and look for a case option. The exact menu path varies by version.

On Mac, open Word and select your text. Click the Format menu, then Text, then Change Case. The options are the same as on Windows.

Why the Change Case button might be grayed out

If the Change Case button appears but is grayed out and won't click, you haven't selected any text yet. Click and drag to highlight the text you want to change, then try the button again. The button only works when text is selected.

Another reason it might be grayed out: you're in a read-only document or a protected section. If the document is read-only, you'll see "Read-Only" in the title bar. Save a copy of the document with a new name to edit it. If only part of the document is protected, select text outside the protected section and try again.

Changing case without the ribbon button

If you can't find or use the Change Case button, you can accomplish the same thing with a formula in a helper column, though this is more work. Type =UPPER(A1) in a blank cell to convert the text in A1 to uppercase, =LOWER(A1) for lowercase, or =PROPER(A1) for title case. Copy the formula down for each row, then copy the results and paste them back as values into your original column.

This method only works in Word tables or if you copy your text into Excel first. For most documents, using the Change Case button is much faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does changing case affect formatting like bold or italics?

No. If text is bold before you change the case, it stays bold after. The Change Case button only changes the letters themselves, not their formatting.

Can I change case for just part of a word?

Yes, but you have to select only that part. Click at the start of the letters you want to change, drag to the end, then use Change Case. The rest of the word stays as it was.

What if I change case by accident?

Press Ctrl+Z immediately to undo. You can undo multiple times if you need to go back several steps. If you've already saved the document, you can still undo — just keep pressing Ctrl+Z until you reach the version you want.

Does this work the same way in Word Online?

Word Online has the Change Case button in the same location on the Home tab. The options and results are identical to the desktop version of Word.