Case Converter · Title Case
Title Case Converter
Title Case is not “capitalize everything”. It is a set of headline rules, and the two big style guides disagree in one visible place: how to treat prepositions. This converter implements both — choose AP or Chicago in the style dropdown.
Tip: select part of your text first and only the selection is converted. Conversions happen in place and are fully undoable here — nothing leaves your browser.
The rules, as implemented here
AP Stylebook
Capitalize every word except:
- articles (a, an, the) — always lowercase mid-title;
- conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) — always lowercase mid-title;
- prepositions of three letters or fewer (of, to, in, on, by, at) — lowercase;
- prepositions of four letters or more (with, from, through, about) — capitalized.
Chicago Manual of Style
Capitalize every word except:
- articles — lowercase mid-title;
- conjunctions — lowercase mid-title;
- prepositions of any length (with, from, through included) — lowercase, unless stressed or used adverbially (a nuance a converter cannot hear, so this tool keeps them lowercase);
- the word to in infinitives — lowercase, as a preposition.
Both styles share three rules: the first word is always capitalized, the last word is always capitalized (even a small one — “A River Runs Through It”), and the first word after a colon starts a subtitle and is capitalized. Verbs are always capitalized, including short ones like is and be.
Worked comparisons
| As typed | AP | Chicago | Why they differ |
|---|---|---|---|
| gone with the wind | Gone With the Wind | Gone with the Wind | with is a 4-letter preposition: AP capitalizes, Chicago does not |
| a river runs through it | A River Runs Through It | A River Runs through It | through (7 letters) splits the styles; it is capitalized as the last word in both |
| what to do about the rain | What to Do About the Rain | What to Do about the Rain | to stays lowercase in both (short preposition); about differs |
| the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Same result: of is short, and the word after the colon is capitalized |
| the cat in the hat | The Cat in the Hat | The Cat in the Hat | in is short enough to stay lowercase under both styles |
Every row above is the live output of the converter on this page — switch the style dropdown and try them.
When to use which style
AP is the house style of most newsrooms and press releases; Chicago rules book publishing and much academic writing. If a publication gave you a style guide, match it. If nobody specified one, pick the result you can apply consistently — consistency is what readers actually notice. The third dropdown option, “Capitalize every word”, skips the small-word rules entirely for names, labels and product titles where that flatter look is intended.
FAQ
- Does Title Case capitalize hyphenated words?
- Each part of a hyphenated compound is judged on its own: a small word in the middle of a compound stays lowercase, the parts at the edges follow the same first/last logic as the whole title.
- What happens after a question mark or full stop?
- The next word is capitalized, the same as after a colon — it begins a new headline unit.
- Why is “is” capitalized?
- Because it is a verb. Both style guides capitalize verbs of any length in headlines, however small they look.
- Can a converter apply every Chicago nuance?
- No. Chicago capitalizes a preposition when it is used adverbially (as in “Looking Up” phrasal verbs) — that takes grammar judgment, not letter rules. This tool documents that limit rather than pretending to solve it.
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