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Title Case Converter

Convert text to proper title case following AP/Chicago style rules, keeping small words lowercase.

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About This Tool

You're writing a headline, naming a project, or finalizing a section heading, and you need it in title case. Sounds simple. It isn't — the rules differ between AP, Chicago, and APA, and people argue about whether "Of" should be capitalized in the middle of a title (it shouldn't, in most styles, but "Of" at the start of a title takes a capital).

The converter applies AP/Chicago title case rules: capitalize the first and last word, capitalize all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns), keep articles (a, an, the), short prepositions (of, in, on), and conjunctions (and, but, or) lowercase unless they're the first or last word. Drop in your text, get the title-cased version. Edge cases — names with internal capitals like McDonald, hyphenated compounds, all-caps acronyms — are preserved correctly.

The rule details: AP style capitalizes prepositions of four letters or more (so "With" capitalized, "Of" lowercase). Chicago capitalizes prepositions of five letters or more by default but allows the editor to override. APA differs further by capitalizing all words of four or more letters, including prepositions. Both AP and Chicago always capitalize the first and last words regardless of part of speech. The converter defaults to AP/Chicago hybrid rules, which match most journalistic and editorial contexts. Hyphenated compounds: AP and Chicago both capitalize both halves of major-word hyphens ("Self-Help"); APA traditionally lowercases the second half ("Self-help"), though usage varies. The converter applies the AP/Chicago convention.

A worked example: input "the lord of the rings: a return to middle-earth". Output: "The Lord of the Rings: A Return to Middle-Earth". The leading article "The" capitalizes because it's the first word. "Lord" capitalizes as a noun. "of" lowercases as a short preposition mid-title. "the" lowercases as an article mid-title. "Rings" capitalizes as a noun. After the colon, "A" capitalizes (some styles also capitalize the first word after a colon as a rule). "Return" capitalizes. "to" lowercases. "Middle-Earth" capitalizes both halves as a hyphenated compound. The converter handles all of this correctly without you having to think about it.

Where automated title casing breaks down: proper nouns the converter doesn't recognize. "iphone" should output "iPhone" (a brand-specific capitalization), but the converter would produce "Iphone" because it doesn't know iPhone is a special case. Same for eBay, dSLR, et al. Pre-format these manually and the converter will preserve them; let the converter touch them and you'll get the wrong capitalization. Acronyms input in lowercase ("html") become "Html"; pre-format them in caps if you want HTML preserved. Edge cases like McDonald, von Trapp, and similar names with intentional internal capitalization need to be input that way; the converter respects existing capitalization for words where it would otherwise be uncertain. For consistent stylistic application across a publication, pair the converter with a manual review pass — automated casing handles 95% of the work; the remaining 5% needs human eyes.

The about text and FAQ on this page were drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by a member of the Coherence Daddy team before publishing. See our Content Policy for editorial standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it handle acronyms?
If you input ALL CAPS for an acronym (USA, NASA, HTML), they're preserved. The converter doesn't know what's an acronym automatically — if you write "html" lowercase, you'll get "Html" out. Pre-format acronyms in caps to keep them right.
Which prepositions stay lowercase?
Short ones (under five letters, by AP and Chicago convention): of, on, in, at, by, to, for, from. Longer prepositions like "between" and "through" get capitalized in Chicago style. There's some genuine disagreement here; the converter follows the most common convention.
What about hyphenated words?
Both halves get capitalized for major words: "Self-Help" rather than "Self-help." This matches AP and Chicago style. Some style guides (like APA) lowercase the second half of hyphenated compounds, which is a different convention not implemented here.
Is the first word always capitalized?
Yes — first and last words are always capitalized regardless of part of speech. "Of Mice and Men" capitalizes "Of" because it's the first word, even though "of" would otherwise be lowercase. Same for the last word in a title.
Why is my brand name (iPhone, eBay) coming out wrong?
The converter doesn't know about brand-specific capitalization. Pre-format brand names exactly as you want them, then run the surrounding words through the converter. The converter respects exact capitalization for words it can't otherwise classify confidently.
What about title case after a colon?
AP and Chicago both capitalize the first word after a colon if what follows is an independent clause. The converter capitalizes the word after a colon by default. For non-clause continuations (a quote, a list), edit manually.
Should I use title case for headings on the web?
Modern web writing increasingly uses sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns capitalized) for headings because it reads less stuffy. Title case still works for blog post titles, page titles, and book-style content. Pick one and apply consistently across the site.