How this calculator works
Title case capitalises the main words of a title and leaves a small set of function words lowercase when they sit in the middle. Articles, coordinating conjunctions and prepositions are the usual minor words. The styles differ in how long a preposition may be and still count as minor: AP, APA, AMA and NYT lowercase prepositions of three letters or fewer, Bluebook allows four, and MLA and Chicago lowercase prepositions of any length. Every style on this page capitalises the first word, the last word and the first word after a colon, and it treats each part of a hyphenated compound as a word. The converter lowercases everything first, so a name written in capitals comes back in ordinary title case and needs checking.
Formula
Lowercase the whole text, then for each word: capitalise it if it is the first or last word, if it follows a colon, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, or if it is a major word for the chosen style. Keep articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) and style-specific short prepositions lowercase elsewhere. Capitalise the pronoun I. Each part of a hyphenated word is judged separately.
Worked example
In AP style, "the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring" becomes "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". The words of and the stay lowercase in the middle, while the first word, the word after the colon and the last word take a capital. Compare "what to expect with a puppy": AP capitalises with because it is four letters, giving "What to Expect With a Puppy", while Chicago lowercases every preposition and gives "What to Expect with a Puppy".
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Frequently asked questions
Which title case style should I use?
Match the publisher. Academic papers in APA or MLA style use those guides, legal documents use Bluebook, and news and web copy are usually AP or house style. If nobody has told you, pick one guide and apply it consistently.
Why does the same word change case between styles?
The guides disagree about prepositions and subordinating conjunctions. A four-letter preposition such as with or from is lowercase in Bluebook, MLA and Chicago but capitalised in AP, APA, AMA and NYT. The converter applies one documented rule per style rather than blending them.
Are names and acronyms preserved?
No. The input is lowercased first, so NASA becomes Nasa and iPhone becomes Iphone. Restore brand names, personal names and acronyms by hand. A mechanical converter cannot reliably tell a proper noun from a common word.
How are hyphenated words handled?
Each part is treated as its own word, so "state-of-the-art" becomes "State-of-the-Art" and "e-mail" becomes "E-Mail". Style guides differ on hyphenated compounds, especially when both parts are nouns, so check unusual cases against your guide.
Is the last word always capitalised?
Yes on this page, following the common rule that the final word is a principal word even if it would otherwise be minor. That is why a title ending in of or the still ends with Of or The. Some house styles depart from this; adjust by hand if yours does.
Does the converter change numbers or punctuation?
No. Numbers, punctuation and spacing are kept as typed. Only the capitalisation of letters changes, and non-Latin scripts are left as their case mapping allows.