Title Case Converter

Convert any text to title case using AP, APA, MLA, Chicago, or NY Times rules. Pick a style, paste your headline, copy the result.

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Input

Output (Generic)

The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog at Midnight in Central Park

How to use the title case converter

1. Paste your text

Drop a headline, chapter title, article H1, or any string you want in title case into the input box. Nothing leaves your browser; the conversion runs in JavaScript.

2. Pick a style

Generic works for most blog posts and product copy. Pick AP for journalism, APA or MLA for academic papers, Chicago for book publishing, NY Times for editorial. The hint under the style row tells you which words each style lowercases.

3. Check the rules-applied panel

Every change is logged: which words got capitalized, which got lowercased, and why. If a rule looks wrong for your text (a proper noun that should have stayed capitalized, for instance), you can fix it in the output box and copy the result.

4. Copy out

The Copy button puts the converted text on your clipboard. If you need a different style for the same input, switch the style pill, click Apply, and the output rewrites.

Style guide comparison

Title case is not one thing. The same headline renders differently under each style guide because each guide draws the line between "content word" and "function word" in a different place. Below: the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog rendered six ways.

Style	Rendered headline	What changes
Generic	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog	Capitalizes "Over" (preposition, but 4 chars in some rule sets). Lowercases "the" (article).
AP	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog	Capitalizes prepositions of 4 chars or more ("Over"). Lowercases articles and short conjunctions. Closest to Generic.
APA	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog	Capitalizes any word of 4 chars or more regardless of part of speech. First and last always capitalized.
MLA	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog	Lowercases "over" (preposition) but capitalizes "The" (first word). Explicit conjunction list (and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet).
Chicago	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog	Lowercases ALL prepositions regardless of length. Lowercases coordinating conjunctions. Strictest on function words.
NY Times	The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog	Idiosyncratic: capitalizes "Is" and forms of "to be"; lowercases "of", "in", "the" inside the headline.

The differences look subtle on a short sentence. They get loud on real headlines (Chicago lowercasing "Between", "About", "Through" where AP keeps them capitalized).

Style rules in detail

AP style (Associated Press)

The wire-service standard. Used by most US newspapers, news magazines, and PR. Capitalize the principal words: nouns, verbs (including "is" and other forms of "to be"), adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and subordinating conjunctions. Lowercase articles ("a", "an", "the"), coordinating conjunctions ("and", "but", "or", "for", "nor"), and prepositions of three letters or fewer ("at", "by", "in", "of", "on", "to", "up").

Rule	Words affected	Behavior
Articles	a, an, the	lowercase (except first/last word)
Coordinating conjunctions	and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet	lowercase
Short prepositions (3 chars or fewer)	at, by, in, of, on, to, up	lowercase
Long prepositions (4 chars or more)	over, with, from, into, about	capitalize
First / last word	any word	always capitalize

APA style (American Psychological Association)

The default for psychology, education, and most social-science papers. APA uses length as the deciding rule: capitalize any word of four letters or more, regardless of part of speech. Capitalize the first and last word of the title and of any subtitle (after a colon). Capitalize "major words" (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns). Lowercase only short articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.

Rule	Words affected	Behavior
Words of 4 chars or more	over, with, from, about, against	capitalize
Articles + short prepositions (under 4 chars)	a, an, the, at, by, in, of, on, to	lowercase
First / last word	any word	always capitalize
First word after a colon	any word	always capitalize
Hyphenated compound	Self-Reliance, Mother-in-Law	capitalize both parts

MLA style (Modern Language Association)

The default for literature, languages, and humanities. MLA capitalizes the first word, the last word, and all principal words in between. Lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions ("and", "but", "or", "for", "nor", "so", "yet"), and prepositions regardless of length. The first word after a colon is always capitalized.

Rule	Words affected	Behavior
Principal words	nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns	capitalize
Articles	a, an, the	lowercase
Coordinating conjunctions	and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet	lowercase
Prepositions (any length)	at, by, in, of, on, to, over, with, between, against	lowercase
First / last word and word-after-colon	any word	always capitalize

Chicago style (Chicago Manual of Style)

The default for book publishing, history, and academic monographs. Chicago is the strictest on function words. Capitalize the first and last word of the title and subtitle, and all principal words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns). Lowercase ALL articles, prepositions (regardless of length), and coordinating conjunctions ("and", "but", "for", "or", "nor"). The word "to" in infinitives is always lowercase. "As" is lowercase except when used as a verb.

Rule	Words affected	Behavior
Articles	a, an, the	lowercase
Prepositions (ALL lengths)	at, by, in, of, on, to, over, with, between, against, through	lowercase
Coordinating conjunctions	and, but, or, for, nor	lowercase
"to" in infinitives	"how to write"	lowercase
"as" except as verb	"as a verb" (low) vs "She As the lead" (cap)	contextual
First / last / after-colon	any word	always capitalize

NY Times style

The Times' headline rules are idiosyncratic and worth a separate column. Capitalize forms of "to be" ("Is", "Are", "Be", "Was", "Were"). Lowercase "of", "in", "the" when they appear inside the headline (not first or last). The Times capitalizes prepositions in some constructions where AP would lowercase them (notably "Up", "Out", "Off" in phrasal verbs). When in doubt, look at the actual front page.

Rule	Words affected	Behavior
Forms of "to be"	is, are, be, was, were, been, being	capitalize (unusual)
"of", "in", "the" inside headline	of, in, the	lowercase
Phrasal verb particles	up, out, off, on	capitalize (unusual)
First / last word	any word	always capitalize

When to use which style

Field / use case	Style	Why
Newspaper article, press release, news blog	AP	Industry default for journalism. Most US newsrooms use AP for headlines and body.
Psychology paper, education thesis, social-science research	APA	Required by most peer-reviewed journals in those fields. APA 7th edition is the current standard.
English literature paper, humanities thesis, language studies	MLA	Default in modern-languages departments. MLA 9th edition is the current standard.
Book manuscript, non-fiction trade title, academic monograph	Chicago	Used by most US book publishers. CMOS 17th edition is the working reference.
Editorial feature, magazine longform, op-ed (NYT-specific)	NY Times	Apply only if you are writing for the Times or imitating its house style. Otherwise pick AP.
Blog post, marketing copy, product page, knowledge-base article	Generic	When there is no required guide, Generic title case reads well and matches reader expectation.
Email subject line, social media post, push notification	Sentence case	Use Sentence case (on the hub) instead. Title case in short-form copy reads spammy.

Frequently asked questions

What is title case?

Title case capitalizes the principal words of a title (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns) and lowercases the function words (articles, short prepositions, coordinating conjunctions). The first and last word are always capitalized, regardless of their part of speech. The exact list of function words depends on the style guide: AP lowercases prepositions of three letters or fewer, Chicago lowercases all prepositions, APA lowercases words under four letters. This page applies the rules per the style you pick.

Title case vs sentence case vs all caps?

Title case capitalizes most words (Like This Headline). Sentence case capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns (Like this headline). ALL CAPS capitalizes every letter (LIKE THIS HEADLINE). Use title case for article H1s, book titles, and most blog headings. Use sentence case for body copy, captions, and short-form social posts. Use ALL CAPS sparingly, for emphasis labels or section dividers. The Case Converter hub handles all three plus alternating case and inverse case.

Which style should I use?

If a publisher, professor, or editor has told you which style to use, use that one. If not: AP for journalism and marketing, APA for psych and education, MLA for English and humanities, Chicago for books, NY Times only if you are writing for the Times. For a generic blog post or product page, "Generic" is fine and reads natural.

Why are AP, APA, and Chicago different?

Each style guide drew its rules separately, in different decades, for different industries. AP optimizes for wire-service headlines, which need to scan fast. Chicago optimizes for book covers and chapter titles, which favor restraint. APA and MLA emerged from academic publishing, where consistency across thousands of citations matters more than aesthetics. The differences are real, not cosmetic: a Chicago manuscript that uses AP title case will get flagged in copyedit, and vice versa.

Does the converter handle hyphenated words?

Yes. With "Capitalize hyphenated words separately" on (default), "self-reliance" becomes "Self-Reliance" and "mother-in-law" becomes "Mother-In-Law" per APA and Chicago rules. With it off, only the first part of the hyphenated compound gets capitalized: "Self-reliance", "Mother-in-law" (closer to AP). Pick the version that matches your style guide.

What about words after a colon?

In APA, MLA, and Chicago, the first word after a colon is always capitalized, even if it would normally be lowercase. AP capitalizes the word after a colon when the second part is a complete sentence and lowercases it otherwise. The converter capitalizes the first word after every colon by default; if you are writing AP and the second clause is a fragment, fix it in the output box.

Does it preserve proper nouns?

The converter does not have a proper-noun dictionary. It capitalizes every word that style rules say should be capitalized and lowercases the rest. If you paste "the new york times reviews the great gatsby", the output will be in title case ("The New York Times Reviews the Great Gatsby") because every word except the article and preposition is treated as a content word. For unusual proper nouns ("iPhone", "eBay", "McDonald's") that include internal capitalization, fix them in the output box.

Is the title case converter free?

Yes. No signup, no character limit, no ads in the tool widget. The conversion runs entirely in your browser; your text is never sent to a server. All five style guides plus Generic mode are included.