The quickest way: Text case button in the ribbon

Open your document in Microsoft Word and select the text you want to change. Look at the top ribbon — in the Home tab, find the Aa button with a small arrow next to it. This is the text case tool. Click the arrow to see your options: Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE.

Click UPPERCASE and Word converts all selected text to capital letters instantly. This works on a single word, a sentence, a paragraph, or multiple pages — as long as you have it selected first.

If you cannot find the Aa button, you may be using an older version of Word or a different view. The button appears in Word 2010 and later on both Windows and Mac versions of the software.

Key Takeaways

  • Select your text first, then use the Aa button in the Home tab ribbon and choose UPPERCASE.
  • The text case tool also offers lowercase, sentence case, capitalize each word, and toggle case options.
  • You can change text in any quantity — a single word, a full page, or an entire document — as long as it is selected.
  • If the Aa button does not appear, check that you are in the Home tab and using Word 2010 or later.

Selecting text before you convert

Word cannot change text you have not selected. To select text, click at the start of what you want to change and drag to the end. You can also triple-click to select an entire paragraph, or use Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) to select everything in the document.

If you select by accident, click anywhere in the document to deselect, then try again. There is no penalty for selecting the wrong section — Word only changes what you have highlighted in blue.

Using Format menu if the ribbon button is missing

If you cannot locate the Aa button, go to the Format menu at the top of the screen. Click Text, then look for Change Case or Text Case (the exact wording varies by Word version). A menu appears with the same options: UPPERCASE, lowercase, Sentence case, Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE.

Select UPPERCASE and the text converts. This route works on all versions of Word, though newer versions make the ribbon button easier to find and faster to use.

Converting an entire document at once

To change all text in your document to uppercase, use Ctrl+A (Windows) or Command+A (Mac) to select everything. Then click the Aa button and choose UPPERCASE. Word converts every letter in the document, including headers, footers, and text in tables.

Be careful with this step — if your document has mixed case for a reason (like a company name spelled in lowercase), converting everything will change those too. You can undo the change by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) if you change your mind immediately after.

What happens to numbers, punctuation, and special characters

The uppercase conversion affects letters only. Numbers, punctuation marks, spaces, and special characters stay exactly as they are. If your text reads "call 555-1234 today," converting to uppercase produces "CALL 555-1234 TODAY" — the numbers and hyphen do not change.

Accented letters like é, ñ, and ü convert to their uppercase versions (É, Ñ, Ü) when you use the UPPERCASE option. Word recognizes these as letters and handles them the same way as standard English letters, so international text converts correctly.

Undoing a case change you did not mean to make

If you convert text and then realize it was a mistake, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) immediately. Word reverses the last action, and your text returns to its original case. You can undo multiple steps in a row by pressing the keyboard shortcut repeatedly.

If you have already saved the document after the change, you can still undo — open the Edit menu and look for Undo, or use the keyboard shortcut. Word keeps a history of recent changes even after you save, though the history clears when you close and reopen the file.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change just part of a word to uppercase?

No — the case tool changes entire words or selected text as a unit. If you select "hello" and convert to uppercase, you get "HELLO," not "HeLLo." To create mixed case within a word, you would need to type it manually or select and convert each part separately.

Does changing case affect the original formatting like bold or italics?

No. If your text is bold and you convert it to uppercase, it stays bold. The case tool changes only the letters themselves, not the formatting applied to them. Fonts, colors, bold, italics, and underline all remain unchanged.

What if I want to change text to lowercase or capitalize each word instead?

Use the same Aa button and select the option you need. The menu offers lowercase, Sentence case (first letter capitalized), Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE (which flips the case of each letter). Pick whichever matches what you need.

Will this work on text inside a table or header?

Yes. Select the text inside the table cell or header the same way you would select regular text, then use the Aa button. Word converts it without any difference in behavior. You can select multiple cells or an entire table column and convert all of it at once.