How to Change Text Case in Microsoft Word

Imagine you just typed a massive, three-paragraph introduction for a report, only to look at your screen and realize you accidentally had the Caps Lock key pressed the entire time.

Your first instinct might be to delete all the text and start typing it again from scratch. Fortunately, Microsoft Word has a built-in tool that can instantly fix capitalization errors, converting UPPERCASE text into normal lowercase, or vice-versa, without retyping a single letter.

Method 1: The Change Case Button

The easiest way to fix capitalization is by using the dedicated button on the ribbon menu.

1. Use your mouse to highlight all the text you want to change.
2. Ensure you are on the Home tab at the top of the screen.
3. Look in the “Font” section of the ribbon for a button that looks like an uppercase A next to a lowercase a (Aa).
4. Click this button to open the drop-down menu.

You will be presented with five different options:

• Sentence case: Capitalizes only the first letter of each sentence and leaves everything else lowercase.
• lowercase: Forces every single letter to be small.
• UPPERCASE: Forces every single letter to be a capital letter (simulating Caps Lock).
• Capitalize Each Word: Often called “Title Case”, this capitalizes the first letter of every single word, which is perfect for book titles or headlines.
• tOGGLE cASE: This flips the current capitalization. If a letter was uppercase, it becomes lowercase, and vice-versa. (This is specifically designed to fix accidental Caps Lock typing).

Click the option you want, and your highlighted text will instantly transform.

Method 2: The Keyboard Shortcut (Shift + F3)

If you prefer to keep your hands on the keyboard and work faster, Word has a highly efficient shortcut for cycling through the most common text cases.

1. Highlight the text you want to change.
2. Hold down the Shift key.
3. While holding Shift, tap the F3 key at the top of your keyboard.

Each time you press F3, Word will instantly cycle the text to the next format. It will rotate continuously between UPPERCASE, lowercase, and Sentence case/Title case.

Note for Laptop Users: On many modern laptops (especially MacBooks and slim Windows notebooks), the F-keys double as media controls (volume, screen brightness). If Shift+F3 changes your volume instead of your text, you must also hold down the Fn (Function) key at the bottom of your keyboard. The shortcut becomes Fn + Shift + F3.