The Stubborn Capitals
Google Docs is built to enforce standard grammatical rules, and one of the most fundamental rules is that every new sentence must begin with a capital letter. By default, if you type a lowercase word following a period and a space, or at the very beginning of a new line, Google Docs instantly and automatically capitalizes the first letter for you. While helpful for drafting standard prose, this autocorrection is infuriating if you are writing code snippets, drafting avant-garde poetry, or compiling a specific list of case-sensitive commands where a sudden capital letter breaks the intended formatting.
Disabling Auto-Capitalization
To retain exact control over your casing and stop Google Docs from automatically capitalizing the first word of every sentence, you must disable the auto-capitalization rule in the editor’s preferences.
Open any Google Doc to access the master settings. Navigate to the top menu bar and click on Tools. Scroll down the dropdown menu and select Preferences. A new dialogue box will pop up in the center of your screen. Ensure you are on the General tab (the default view on the left side). Scan down the list of checkboxes for the option explicitly named Automatically capitalize words. By default, this box is checked, empowering the editor to alter your text. Click the box to uncheck it. Click the blue OK button at the bottom of the window to save your changes. From now on, Google Docs will respect your lowercase typing, regardless of punctuation.