Capitalizing the First Letter of a Cell

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 30, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365

1

Georgia has a column of text values extending over thousands of rows. She would like to change the capitalization of the text so that only the first letter of each cell is capitalized.

Assuming that the column, indeed, only contains text values, then you can use the following formula:

=UPPER(LEFT(A1)) & LOWER(MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)-1))

This formula assumes that the text values are in column A. Copy the formula down for as many rows as needed, and you'll have your result. If you simply want to make sure that the first character is uppercase without changing the case of anything else in the cell, then this shorter version will work:

=UPPER(LEFT(A1)) & MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)-1)

If, instead, you want to capitalize the first letter of each word in the cell, then the formula is even simpler:

=PROPER(A1)

These formulas presume that you have a spare column available to house the formula. If you prefer to make your changes in-place, then you'll need to rely on a macro to do the work. Here's an example:

Sub UpperFirst()
    Dim c As Range
    Dim t As String

    For Each c In Selection
        If Not IsEmpty(c.Value) And VarType(c.Value) = vbString Then
            t = Trim(c.Value)
            c.Value = UCase(Left(t, 1) & LCase(Mid(t,2))
        End If
    Next c
End Sub

Select the cells you want to affect, then run the macro. It makes sure that the cell contains something and that the something is really a text string. Then, it capitalizes the first letter and makes sure the rest is lowercase. In the process, it also deletes any leading or trailing spaces in the cell.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13952) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Excel in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Missing Header and Footer Toolbar

When you need to make changes to the header or footer of a document, the Header and Footer toolbar is invaluable. What if ...

Discover More

Hyphenating a Selection

Word provides a hyphenation tool that can help you hyphenate words within a document. If you want to apply hyphenation to ...

Discover More

Adding a Border around Multiple Paragraphs

Word makes it very easy to apply formatting to the paragraphs in your documents. Some of that formatting may be ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Returning the Smallest Non-Zero Value

In a series of values, you may need to know the smallest value that isn't a zero. There is no built-in function to do ...

Discover More

Tracing Errors

Sometimes it can be confusing to figure out the source of an error that is displayed in your worksheet. Excel provides a ...

Discover More

Address of a Cell in Which a Threshold is Exceeded

If you keep a lot of data in Excel, you may be interested in figuring out when that data surpasses a threshold. This tip ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 9 + 4?

2025-08-30 06:09:56

Barry

Just what I neede thank you.
One small typo but took awhile to find it (still a novice!).
c.Value = UCase(Left(t, 1) & LCase(Mid(t,2))
s/b c.Value = UCase(Left(t, 1)) & LCase(Mid(t,2))
Just an extra bracket before '&': ...(Left(t, 1)) &...

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.