The fastest way: use the Format menu
Open your document in Word 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. You can also triple-click a paragraph to select the whole thing, or use Ctrl+A to select everything in the document.
Once the text is highlighted, go to the Home tab at the top of the window. Look for a button labeled Aa with a small arrow next to it — this is the text case button. Click the arrow to open a dropdown menu with five options: Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE. Click lowercase to convert your selected text.
The change happens when ready. If you change your mind, press Ctrl+Z to undo and go back to the original text.
Key Takeaways
- Select the text you want to change by clicking and dragging, triple-clicking a paragraph, or pressing Ctrl+A for the whole document.
- Click the Aa button with a dropdown arrow on the Home tab, then choose lowercase from the menu.
- The change applies when ready to your selected text and can be undone with Ctrl+Z if you change your mind.
- Word offers four other case options besides lowercase: Sentence case, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word, and tOGGLE cASE.
Where to find the Aa button if you cannot see it
If you do not see the Aa button on your Home tab, your ribbon may be collapsed or you may be using a different version of Word. In Word Online (the free version you use in a web browser), the button is in the same place on the Home tab, but it may look slightly different depending on your screen size.
On a very small screen or narrow window, Word hides less-used buttons to save space. Click the three dots (...) at the right end of the Home tab to see more options, and you should find the text case button there. If you are using an older version of Word (2010 or earlier), the button may be labeled Change Case instead of Aa, but it works the same way.
Changing case for part of a sentence
You do not have to change the case of a whole paragraph or document. Select only the words you want to change. For example, if you have a title that reads "THE QUICK BROWN FOX" and you want it to read "The quick brown fox", you can select just those words and explore lowercase, then use Capitalize Each Word to fix the first letter.
Be careful when selecting text that includes punctuation or numbers. Word treats these the same as letters, so if you select a sentence that ends with a period, the period stays in place but the letters around it change case as you specified.
The difference between lowercase and other case options
Lowercase makes every letter small: "the quick brown fox". Sentence case capitalizes only the first letter of the sentence: "The quick brown fox". UPPERCASE makes every letter capital: "THE QUICK BROWN FOX". Capitalize Each Word puts a capital letter at the start of each word: "The Quick Brown Fox". tOGGLE cASE flips whatever case each letter already has — capitals become lowercase and lowercase become capitals.
Choose the option that matches what you need. If you are fixing a title that should have each word capitalized, use Capitalize Each Word. If you are cleaning up text that was accidentally typed in all caps, use Sentence case or lowercase depending on whether you want the first letter capitalized.
Changing case in Word on Mac
The process is almost identical on a Mac. Select your text the same way — click and drag, triple-click, or Ctrl+A. Go to the Home tab and look for the Aa button. Click the dropdown arrow next to it and choose lowercase.
If you cannot find the button, click Format in the menu bar at the top of your screen, then look for Text or Change Case in the dropdown. The exact menu name varies by Word version, but the option is always there.
What happens if you change case by accident
If you convert text to lowercase and then realize you needed it in a different case, undo the change when ready by pressing Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac). Word keeps a history of your recent changes, so you can undo multiple times to get back to where you started.
If you have already saved the document and closed it, you can still undo after reopening — Word remembers your changes until you close the program completely. Once you close Word entirely, the undo history is gone, so you would have to manually fix the text or use Find and Replace to change it back.
Using Find and Replace to change case across a large document
If you have a very long document with many instances of text in the wrong case, selecting and changing each section one at a time is slow. Open the Find and Replace dialog by pressing Ctrl+H. Type the text you want to find in the Find what field.
In the Replace with field, type the same text but in the case you want. Click Replace All to change every instance at once. This works best when you are looking for a specific phrase or word that appears multiple times — for example, replacing "COMPANY NAME" with "Company Name" throughout a document. For random text in the wrong case, selecting and using the Aa button is usually faster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change case without selecting the text first?
No, you must select the text before you can change its case. Word needs to know which letters you want to change. If you click the Aa button without selecting anything, nothing happens.
Does changing case affect formatting like bold or italics?
No. If your text is bold and you change it to lowercase, it stays bold. The case change only affects whether the letters are capitals or small letters, not any other formatting you have applied.
What if I want to change case in a table or text box?
The same method works. Select the text inside the table cell or text box and use the Aa button on the Home tab. Word treats text in tables and text boxes the same way as text in the main document.
Can I change case in Word Online the same way as desktop Word?
Yes. Word Online has the same Aa button on the Home tab. Select your text and click the dropdown arrow next to Aa, then choose your case option. The feature works identically in both versions.