By Tim King · Updated 19 September 2026

Title Case Converter

Q: Is the last word of a title always capitalised?

Yes, in every major style guide. That is why What Are You Looking For ends with a capital For even though for would be lowercase anywhere else in the title. The same rule applies to the first word regardless of what it is.

Q: Why did it lowercase a word that should be capitalised?

Most often a phrasal verb. In Log In to Your Account the In belongs to the verb and should be capitalised, but it is indistinguishable from the preposition in without understanding the sentence. Fix those by hand after converting.

Capitalise Headlines in AP, APA or Chicago Style, Keeping Acronyms

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How the Headline Capitaliser works

This title case converter follows AP, Chicago or APA rules. Paste one headline per line and each is capitalised to the style guide you pick. Articles, conjunctions and short prepositions drop to lowercase, the first and last words are always capitalised, the word after a colon is capitalised too because it starts a new clause, and anything already in capitals is left alone as an acronym.

Title case converter: one name, three rulebooks

Title case is not one rule, it is a family of them, and the differences between the major style guides are small enough to be invisible until an editor points them out.

The part they agree on

Every guide capitalises nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and lowercases articles — a, an, the — when they fall in the middle of a title. All of them capitalise the first word unconditionally, and all of them capitalise the last word unconditionally, which is why What Are You Waiting For ends with a capitalised For even though for is lowercase everywhere else.

AP style title case: four letters or more

The Associated Press capitalises every word of four letters or more, including prepositions. So AP writes Over, With, From and Into but lowercases at, by, in, of, on, to and up. It is the simplest rule to apply by eye, and it is why headlines in news writing look slightly more capitalised than those in books.

Chicago style headline capitalisation: prepositions stay down

Chicago lowercases prepositions regardless of length, so Between, Through and Underneath all drop to lowercase in the middle of a title. It also lowercases the coordinating conjunctions and, but, or, nor, for, yet and so. The result is noticeably lighter on capitals, and it is the convention for book titles, chapter headings and most long-form publishing.

APA title case: three letters or fewer

APA's rule is length-based like AP's, but with a threshold of four rather than four-or-more: words of three letters or fewer are lowercase, everything else is capitalised. That makes And lowercase, With capitalised, and Between capitalised — the middle ground between the other two.

Acronyms and deliberate capitalisation

A word already written entirely in capitals is left untouched, so NASA, HTML and CEO survive intact rather than becoming Nasa and Html. Mixed-case brand names like iPhone and eBay are the harder case: the first letter of a headline is always capitalised, so a title starting with such a name needs a manual fix.

Phrasal verbs are the classic trap

In Log In to Your Account, In is part of the verb log in, not a preposition, so every guide capitalises it — but no automatic tool can tell that apart from Walking in the Rain. If a short word is doing work as part of a verb, capitalise it by hand.

Sentence case is the other option

Many modern publications and most product interfaces have moved to sentence case — only the first word and proper nouns capitalised. It is easier to get right, easier to read at small sizes, and avoids all of the above. Title case remains the norm for news headlines, book titles and academic references.

Headline capitaliser: the same words under each guide

Word in mid-title	AP	Chicago	APA
a, an, the	a	a	a
and, but, or	and	and	and
of, in, to, at, by	of	of	of
for	for	for	for
with	With	with	With
from, over, into	From	from	From
between, through	Between	between	Between
is, are, be	Is	Is	Is
it, he, she	It	It	It

Two-letter verbs and pronouns are capitalised everywhere: Is, It, Be and He are never lowercased, whatever their length. The examples that split the guides are all prepositions of four letters or more.

Title	AP	Chicago
a tale of two cities	A Tale of Two Cities	A Tale of Two Cities
the man who fell from the sky	The Man Who Fell From the Sky	The Man Who Fell from the Sky
what to do with a broken heart	What to Do With a Broken Heart	What to Do with a Broken Heart
between the lines	Between the Lines	Between the Lines

FAQ

What is the difference between AP and Chicago title case?

AP capitalises every word of four letters or more, including prepositions like With and From. Chicago lowercases prepositions no matter how long they are, so it produces noticeably fewer capitals. Both lowercase articles and capitalise the first and last words.

Is the last word of a title always capitalised?

Yes, in every major style guide. That is why What Are You Looking For ends with a capital For even though for would be lowercase anywhere else in the title. The same rule applies to the first word regardless of what it is.

How are acronyms handled?

Any word already written entirely in capitals is passed through unchanged, so NASA API Guide stays as it is. Mixed-case names like iPhone are preserved mid-title but will be capitalised if they fall in the first position, since the first word is always capitalised.

Should I use title case or sentence case?

Sentence case for product interfaces, documentation and most modern web writing — it reads better at small sizes and there is nothing to get wrong. Title case for news headlines, book and article titles, and anywhere a style guide requires it.

Why did it lowercase a word that should be capitalised?

Most often a phrasal verb. In Log In to Your Account the In belongs to the verb and should be capitalised, but it is indistinguishable from the preposition in without understanding the sentence. Fix those by hand after converting.

Are short verbs like "is" and "be" capitalised in title case?

Yes, in every style. The lowercase list is articles, coordinating conjunctions and prepositions; verbs, pronouns and adverbs are capitalised regardless of length, so Is, Be, It, Up as an adverb and So as an adverb all take capitals even though they are two letters.

How do I capitalise a hyphenated word in a title?

AP and Chicago capitalise both halves of a hyphenated compound when each half is a real word, giving Self-Driving Cars and Long-Term Plan, and lowercase the second part when it is a prefix continuation or an article. APA capitalises both halves. The tool capitalises both, so change E-Mail to E-mail by hand if your house style asks for it.