Excel PROPER Function – Convert Into Sentence Case

Many a time, a need may arise to quickly convert a sentence in lower or upper or mix case into a proper format. To achieve this, excel has provided with an inbuilt function called the PROPER Excel Function.

In this tutorial we would learn how to use the PROPER formula in Excel, along with examples.

Let us begin!! Here we go 😎

When To Use Excel PROPER Function

The PROPER formula in Excel is used to convert a sentence into a proper case. This function converts the first letter of each word into upper case (capital letter).

The Excel PROPER formula forms part of the Text formula group. Therefore, it returns a text string.

Syntax and Arguments

=PROPER(text)

The PROPER function has one argument viz. text.

  • text – In this mandatory argument, specify the text string to convert to sentence case.

The text argument can be either entered manually or a cell reference.

It is important to note that, when a text argument is manually entered, it must be put within double-quotes.

Excel PROPER Function – Examples

Now, let us look at some examples of using the PROPER formula in excel to understand how the excel PROPER formula works in excel.

Look at the sentence in cell A1 in the below image:

PROPER Function in Excel - Example Sentence

The sentence “EXCEL is A pOWERFUL tOOl” has a mixture of both upper and lower case. The text string does not look nice.

To convert the first letter of each word in this sentence into capital letter, simply use the following formula:

=PROPER(A1)

OR

=PROPER("EXCEL is A pOWERFUL tOOl")
Infographic - PROPER Formula Function in Excel

As a result, excel would return the following output.

PROPER Formula Result

Look at some more examples in the below image.

Examples of PROPER Excel Function

Do Not Miss This Point

The PROPER function only impacts the text strings (i.e. letters and alphabets).

It does not do any change in the non-text strings, like numbers, symbols, etc.

Numbers Symbols PROPER Function

Explanation – In the above examples, the PROPER function kept the numeric value ‘456’ and the symbol hash ‘#’ as it is.

Thank You 🙂

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