Title capitalizer
Paste one title per line and pick a style. The tool capitalizes the important words and keeps articles, short conjunctions and prepositions in lower case, as the style guides describe. The rules here are simplified, so check important titles against the guide you must follow.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Paste titles, one per line.
- Choose the style.
- Copy the result.
How it works
Each line is split into words. A word stays lowercase if it is on the style’s list of small words and is not first, last or right after a colon or dash; every other word has its first letter capitalized and the rest lowercased.
Worked example
“a tale of two cities” in AP style becomes “A Tale of Two Cities”: “A” is first, “of” is a small word. With Chicago style, “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” keeps “over” in lower case, while AP capitalizes it because it has four letters.
Tips
Run the result through your style guide for important titles. For plain upper or lower case use the case converter.
Frequently asked questions
What rules does each style use here?
AP and APA lowercase a short list of small words (articles, short conjunctions and prepositions up to three letters) and capitalize longer words. Chicago and MLA lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions and all prepositions whatever their length. These are simplified versions, not the full guides.
Which words are always capitalized?
The first word, the last word, and the first word after a colon, a question mark, an exclamation mark or a dash. In hyphenated words each part is judged on its own, so you get Up-to-Date and Self-Esteem.
Why do Chicago and MLA give the same result?
The simplified rule set used here is the same for both: lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions and prepositions. The real guides differ in details this tool does not model.
What happens to acronyms and brand names?
A word with capital letters inside it, such as NASA or iPhone, is left as typed. If the whole line is in capitals, it is lowered first and then re-capitalised.
Why is a word wrong in my title?
Style guides have many exceptions, such as prepositions used as adverbs ("Look Up") and the word "to" in an infinitive. The tool does not read grammar, so fix those by hand.