The Excel PROPER Function

Related Functions:

Function Description

The Excel Proper function converts all characters in a supplied text string to proper case (i.e. all letters that do not immediately follow another letter are set to upper case and all other characters are lower case).

The syntax of the function is:

PROPER( text )

Where the text argument is the original text string, that you want to convert to proper case.

Warning: as well as the first letter of every word, letters following numbers or other punctuation are converted to upper case by the Excel Proper function. This may be in places that you might not expect. For example, the function converts the "s" in the text string "Bob's Boat" to upper case (i.e. "Bob'S Boat").

Proper Function Examples

In the following spreadsheet, the Excel Proper function is used to convert four text strings to proper case:

Formulas:

	A	B
1	this is a test sentence	=PROPER( A1 )
2	THIS IS A TEST SENTENCE	=PROPER( A2 )
3	111tEST teXT	=PROPER( A3 )
4	Mr. SMITH's address	=PROPER( A4 )

Results:

	A	B
1	this is a test sentence	This Is A Test Sentence
2	THIS IS A TEST SENTENCE	This Is A Test Sentence
3	111tEST teXT	111Test Text
4	Mr. SMITH's address	Mr. Smith'S Address

Further details and examples of the Excel Proper function are provided on the Microsoft Office website.

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