The fastest way: use the Format menu

Open your document and select the text you want to change. Highlight it by clicking at the start of the text, holding down your mouse button, and dragging to the end. If you want to change a whole paragraph or section, triple-click to select the entire paragraph.

Go to the Home tab at the top of the Word window. Look for the button labeled Aa with a small arrow next to it — this is the text case button. Click the arrow to open a menu with five options: Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE. Click UPPERCASE to convert all selected text to capital letters.

The change happens instantly. If you change your mind, press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo and return the text to its original case.

Key Takeaways

  • Select the text you want to change by clicking and dragging, then click the Aa button on the Home tab and choose UPPERCASE.
  • The Format menu approach works on any amount of text — a single word, a sentence, or multiple paragraphs at once.
  • Word also offers Capitalize Each Word and Sentence case if you need a different capitalization style instead of all capitals.
  • You can undo any case change by pressing Ctrl+Z immediately after, so experimenting with different options carries no risk.

Where to find the case button if you cannot see it

If the Aa button is not visible on your Home tab, your ribbon may be collapsed or customized. Look for a small arrow or chevron at the far right of the ribbon — clicking it expands the full toolbar. If the button still does not appear, you may be using an older version of Word or a mobile version with a different layout.

On Word for Mac, the case button is in the same location on the Home tab. On Word Online (the free browser version), the case button appears in the Home tab as well, though the menu may look slightly different. On Word for mobile devices (phone or tablet), you typically access text formatting through a menu icon rather than a ribbon.

Changing case for a whole document

If you need to change the case of all text in your document, select everything first by pressing Ctrl+A (or Cmd+A on Mac). This highlights every word on every page. Then use the Aa button and choose UPPERCASE as described above. The entire document will convert at once.

Be cautious with this approach if your document contains acronyms, proper nouns, or titles that should not be all capitals. Changing the whole document makes everything uniform, which may not be what you want. If you realize you made a mistake, undo immediately with Ctrl+Z.

Other capitalization options Word offers

The Aa menu gives you four alternatives to UPPERCASE. Sentence case capitalizes only the first letter of each sentence and proper nouns — useful if you have text that is all lowercase and needs to be readable. lowercase converts everything to small letters, helpful if you have text in all caps that needs to blend with regular text. Capitalize Each Word puts a capital letter at the start of every word, common in titles. tOGGLE cASE flips whatever case each letter already has — capitals become lowercase and lowercase become capitals.

You can apply any of these options to selected text the same way you apply UPPERCASE. Each one is useful for different situations, and you can always undo and try a different style if the first choice does not look right.

What happens to special characters and numbers

When you change text to uppercase, numbers and punctuation stay exactly the same. Only letters change. So if you have text like "email: john.smith@example.com", converting to uppercase gives you "EMAIL: JOHN.SMITH@EXAMPLE.COM" — the numbers, periods, and symbols do not shift.

Accented letters (like é, ñ, or ü) also convert to their uppercase versions correctly. Word recognizes these as letters and applies the case change. This works across all languages Word supports, so you can safely change case in documents written in French, Spanish, German, or other languages with special characters.

Changing case in headers, footers, and text boxes

The case button works the same way in headers and footers as it does in the main document. Select the text in your header or footer, click the Aa button, and choose your case. This is useful if you have a title or section heading in your header that needs to be all capitals.

Text inside shapes, text boxes, or callout boxes also responds to the case button. Select the text inside the box, use the Aa menu, and the change applies. The only place the case button may not work is in fields that are automatically generated by Word (like page numbers or dates), since those are controlled by Word's internal formatting rather than your text selection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change case without using the Aa button?

Yes. You can also right-click on selected text and look for a "Text" or "Format" option in the context menu, though this path varies by Word version. The Aa button on the Home tab is the most direct route and works the same way in every version of Word.

Does changing case affect the actual spelling or searchability of the text?

No. Changing text to uppercase only changes how it looks on the page. The underlying spelling remains the same, and Word's search function finds the text whether it is uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case. If you search for "hello" in a document where you changed it to "HELLO", Word will still find it.

What if I change text to uppercase and then want to go back to the original mixed case?

If you undo immediately with Ctrl+Z, you return to the original. If you have already saved and closed the document, you cannot recover the original case — Word does not store a record of what the text looked like before the change. Always undo before saving if you change your mind.

Does the case button work the same way in Word 2016, 2019, and newer versions?

Yes. The Aa button and its menu have been in the same location on the Home tab for many years. Older versions of Word (2010 and earlier) may have the feature in a slightly different spot, but the functionality is identical. If you cannot find it, check your ribbon or look under the Format menu at the top.