How to Convert Text to Proper Case in Google Sheets Using PROPER

When working with customer data, product catalogues, or contact lists imported from web forms and external CSV files, text formatting is frequently inconsistent. Names, postal addresses, and product titles often arrive in all uppercase (JOHN DOE) or lowercase (john doe). In Google Sheets, you can instantly standardise your dataset to proper title casing—where the initial letter of every word is capitalised and subsequent letters are lowercase—using the built-in PROPER function.

Basic PROPER Function Syntax and Usage

The PROPER function accepts a single string argument or a cell reference and converts every word into title case format.

=PROPER(text)

To convert an existing cell:

1. Click into an empty adjacent column on the first row of your dataset (for example, cell B2).
2. Enter the formula: =PROPER(A2)
3. Press Enter.
4. Double-click the small blue fill handle in the lower-right corner of cell B2 to automatically fill the formula down the entire column.

For example, =PROPER("SAN FRANCISCO, ca") outputs San Francisco, Ca.

Combining PROPER with TRIM to Eliminate Irregular Spaces

Imported data frequently contains rogue leading, trailing, or duplicate spaces between words. While PROPER capitalises words correctly, it preserves unwanted spacing. Nesting PROPER inside TRIM solves both formatting issues simultaneously:

=PROPER(TRIM(A2))

This nested formula removes all superfluous whitespace before capitalising the initial letters, delivering clean, standardized strings ready for reporting.

Automating Entire Columns with ARRAYFORMULA

Rather than dragging down a formula across thousands of rows, you can apply PROPER dynamically to an entire column using ARRAYFORMULA. This method automatically processes new rows as they are added:

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ISBLANK(A2:A), "", PROPER(TRIM(A2:A))))

Place this single formula in cell B2. The IF(ISBLANK()) wrapper prevents the formula from producing empty outputs or errors on rows without data.

Replacing Original Data with Formatted Proper Case Values

Because formulas rely on references to original cells, deleting the original column will result in broken reference errors (#REF!). To permanently replace the raw data with your newly formatted text:

1. Select the entire column containing your PROPER formulas.
2. Press Ctrl + C (or Cmd + C on Mac) to copy the cells.
3. Right-click the top cell of your original raw data column (e.g. A2).
4. Select Paste special > Values only (or press Ctrl + Shift + V).
5. You can now safely delete the helper column containing the formulas.