How to Change Case in Excel

Microsoft Excel is an incredibly powerful spreadsheet software that is widely used across various industries and professions. One of the most commonly used features of Excel is the ability to change the case of text in a cell. Changing the case of text in Excel can be useful in many situations, such as when you want to standardize the formatting of data or when you need to make text more readable. In this guide, we will go over everything you need to know about changing case in Excel.

Types of Case in Excel

Before we dive into how to change case in Excel, it's important to understand the different types of case that exist in Excel. There are three types of case in Excel:

• Upper Case: All letters are in capital letters (e.g. "THIS IS UPPER CASE").
• Lower Case: All letters are in lowercase letters (e.g. "this is lower case").
• Proper Case: Only the first letter of each word is capitalized (e.g. "This Is Proper Case").

Understanding the differences between these types of case is important because the method you use to change the case in Excel will depend on the type of case you want to apply.

Changing Case Using Excel Formulas

The most basic way to change the case of text in Excel is by using formulas. Excel provides three formulas that can be used to change case: UPPER, LOWER, and PROPER.

The UPPER Formula

The UPPER formula is used to convert text to all uppercase letters. To use the UPPER formula, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell where you want to change the case.
2. In the formula bar at the top of the screen, type "=UPPER(" and then select the cell that contains the text you want to convert.
3. Close the parentheses and press Enter.

The text in the selected cell will now be converted to all uppercase letters.

The LOWER Formula

The LOWER formula is used to convert text to all lowercase letters. To use the LOWER formula, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell where you want to change the case.
2. In the formula bar at the top of the screen, type "=LOWER(" and then select the cell that contains the text you want to convert.
3. Close the parentheses and press Enter.

The text in the selected cell will now be converted to all lowercase letters.

The PROPER Formula

The PROPER formula is used to convert text to proper case, where only the first letter of each word is capitalized. To use the PROPER formula, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell where you want to change the case.
2. In the formula bar at the top of the screen, type "=PROPER(" and then select the cell that contains the text you want to convert.
3. Close the parentheses and press Enter.

The text in the selected cell will now be converted to proper case.

Changing Case Using Excel's Text to Columns Feature

Another way to change case in Excel is by using Excel's Text to Columns feature. This feature can be useful when you have a large amount of text that you need to change the case of. To use the Text to Columns feature, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or cells that contain the text you want to change.
2. Click on the "Data" tab in the Excel ribbon.
3. Click on the "Text to Columns" button.
4. In the "Convert Text to Columns" wizard that appears, select "Delimited" and click "Next."
5. In the "Delimiters" section, select "Other" and type in a space character.
6. Click "Next."
7. In the "Column data format" section, select "Text."

9. Click "Finish."

The text in the selected cells will now be split into separate columns based on the space character, and each column will be in proper case.

To combine the columns back into one cell with the desired case, you can use the CONCATENATE function.

Changing Case Using Conditional Formatting

Another way to change the case of text in Excel is by using conditional formatting. This method can be useful if you want to change the case of text based on certain conditions. To use conditional formatting to change the case of text, follow these steps:

1. Select the cells where you want to change the case.
2. Click on the "Home" tab in the Excel ribbon.
3. Click on the "Conditional Formatting" button.
4. Select "New Rule."
5. In the "New Formatting Rule" dialog box that appears, select "Use a formula to determine which cells to format."
6. In the "Format values where this formula is true" field, type in the formula for the case you want to apply. For example, to apply proper case, you would use the formula "=PROPER(A1)" (assuming the text you want to change is in cell A1).
7. Click on the "Format" button.
8. In the "Format Cells" dialog box that appears, select the desired font and case.
9. Click "OK" twice to close the dialog boxes.

The text in the selected cells will now be changed to the desired case based on the condition you specified.

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