The TextKit Title Case Converter applies proper headline-style capitalization to any title, heading, or sentence. Paste your text, pick a style — AP, Chicago, or APA — and copy a correctly capitalized result. The tool capitalizes the first and last words, capitalizes all major words, and lowercases a defined set of short words (articles, short prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions) in the middle of the title.
Title case looks simple until you try to write it. Is “with” capitalized? What about “into”? Is “as” a preposition or a conjunction, and does it matter? AP, Chicago, and APA answer these questions slightly differently, and getting it wrong in a headline, a press release, or an academic title page looks unprofessional. This tool exists so you don't have to memorize three style guides.
How to use this tool
- Paste your title. Type or paste a headline, book title, section heading, or any phrase you want in title case.
- Pick a style. Choose AP, Chicago, or APA — the toggle labels the result for the convention you're writing to. The core algorithm (capitalize first/last, lowercase short words) is shared.
- Copy the result. The converted title appears in the result box. Click copy to grab it.
How it works
The core title case algorithm is the same across AP, Chicago, and APA, and it's what this tool implements. Step one: tokenize the input into words using the regex /\w[\w']*/g — match each word, allowing internal apostrophes so contractions like don't stay together. Step two: for each word, check whether it's the first word, the last word, or in the middle. Step three:if the word is the first or last word, always capitalize it. If it's in the middle and appears in the short-word list, lowercase it. Otherwise, capitalize it.
The short-word list the tool uses covers the words all three major style guides agree on: the articles a, an, and the; the coordinating conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet; and the short prepositionsas, at, by, in, of, on, to, and up. These are lowercased when they appear in the middle of a title and capitalized when they appear first or last. That's why the lord of the rings becomes The Lord of the Rings — the first the is capitalized (first word), the middle of and the are lowercased (short words in the middle), and the final rings is capitalized (last word).
Where AP, Chicago, and APA genuinely differ is in their treatment of longerprepositions. AP style lowercases prepositions of three letters or fewer (in, on, for, to) and capitalizes prepositions of four letters or more (With, From, Into, About). Chicago style lowercases all prepositions regardless of length (with, from, into, between, without, throughout). APA stylecapitalizes words of four letters or more, including prepositions (With, From, Into, About, Between). The word as is lowercased in all three.
Because the tool's short-word list aligns with the common AP/Chicago backbone (articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions of three letters or fewer), the result is correct under AP and APA conventions for the vast majority of titles. For Chicago style, you may need to manually lowercase longer prepositions (with, from, into, between) — a 10-second pass once you know the rule. The style toggle labels the result for the convention you're writing to so you know which manual checks apply.
Who uses this tool
Apply consistent title case to every headline without second-guessing which words to capitalize.
Format title tags and H1s in standard title case — Google doesn't require it, but readers expect it.
Format dissertation and journal article titles per APA style for title pages and reference lists.
Apply Chicago-style title case to book titles, chapter headings, and course module names.
Match AP-style headline conventions expected by journalists and wire services.
Write subject lines in title case for a polished, scannable look in the inbox.
Format video titles in title case without manually capitalizing each word in your editing tool.
Quickly normalize a batch of inconsistent headlines to a single house style.
Examples
Articles and short prepositions are lowercased in the middle; first and last words are always capitalized.
'in' (2 letters) is lowercased in all three styles; 'rain' (last word) is always capitalized.
This is the case where styles differ: 'Into' (4 letters) is capitalized in AP and APA but lowercased in Chicago.
'to' is capitalized as the first word; 'a' is lowercased as a middle article.
Tips & best practices
- For Chicago style, manually lowercase longer prepositions (with, from, into, between, without, throughout) after conversion — Chicago lowercases all prepositions regardless of length.
- For AP and APA, the tool's output is correct as-is for the vast majority of titles — AP capitalizes 4+ letter prepositions, APA capitalizes 4+ letter words of any kind.
- Always capitalize the first and last word of a title, even if it's a short word like 'the' or 'in' — this rule is universal across all three styles.
- Hyphenated compounds follow a sub-rule: capitalize both parts in title case (State-of-the-Art, Well-Being) per Chicago; APA capitalizes only the first part if the second is a short word.
- For subheadings, use sentence case (only first word capitalized) if your style guide requires it — title case is for main headings only in some guides.
- When in doubt about a specific word, consult your publication's house style — many publishers override the base style guide with their own conventions.
- For SEO title tags, title case is conventional but not required by Google. Pick one and apply it consistently across your site.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Capitalizing every word — that's 'start case' or 'capitalized case', not title case. Title case lowercases articles, short prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions in the middle.
- Lowercasing the last word — the last word is always capitalized in title case, even if it's a short word like 'in' or 'the'.
- Forgetting that Chicago lowercases all prepositions, not just short ones — 'into', 'between', 'throughout' are all lowercase in Chicago style.
- Treating 'as' as a word that should be capitalized — it's lowercased in all three major styles.
- Mixing title case and sentence case in the same document — pick one convention for headings and apply it consistently.
“Title case is one of those things that looks effortless when it's right and immediately unprofessional when it's wrong. Readers don't know the AP rule for 'into' — they just feel that something is off. The converter exists so you can stop thinking about prepositions and start thinking about the actual headline.”
Frequently asked questions
▸What's the difference between AP, Chicago, and APA title case?
The core rule is shared: capitalize first and last words, lowercase articles and short prepositions in the middle. They differ on longer prepositions — AP capitalizes 4+ letter prepositions (Into, With), Chicago lowercases all prepositions (into, with), and APA capitalizes all words of 4+ letters (Into, With, About).
▸Why is 'the' sometimes capitalized and sometimes not?
Articles (a, an, the) are lowercased in the middle of a title but always capitalized as the first or last word. That's why 'The Lord of the Rings' capitalizes the first 'The' but not the middle 'the'.
▸Should I capitalize 'is' and 'be' in a title?
Yes. 'Is' and 'be' are verbs, and verbs are always capitalized in title case across all three styles. A common mistake is to lowercase them because they're short.
▸How are hyphenated words handled?
Chicago capitalizes both parts of a hyphenated compound (State-of-the-Art, Well-Being). APA capitalizes the first part and lowercases the second if it's a short word (Well-being, Self-reported). Our tool treats hyphenated compounds as single words and capitalizes the first letter.
▸Does Google care if my title tag is in title case?
Not for ranking — Google indexes the words regardless of case. But title case is conventional in search results and can improve click-through by making the title look more polished. Consistency across your site matters more than the specific case style.
▸What's the difference between title case and sentence case?
Title case capitalizes every major word (The Lord of the Rings). Sentence case capitalizes only the first word and proper nouns (The lord of the rings). Title case is conventional for headlines; sentence case is conventional for subheadings and many modern blog H1s.
▸Can I use this for book titles in an academic reference list?
Yes — APA and Chicago both use title case for book titles in reference lists (with sentence case for article titles in APA). Paste the title, pick the matching style, and copy the result.
▸Why did my result come out the same in all three styles?
Because the styles only differ on prepositions of 4+ letters and longer words. If your title has no longer prepositions, all three styles produce the same output. Try 'a journey into the unknown' to see the difference — 'into' is capitalized in AP/APA but lowercased in Chicago.
Last reviewed and updated by Muhammad Umair. Have feedback or found an inaccuracy? Let us know.