The fastest way: select text and use the Format menu

Open your document in Microsoft Word and highlight the text you want to change. Click the Home tab at the top, then look for the 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.

Select lowercase from the menu. Word will convert all the highlighted text to lowercase letters when ready. This works whether your text is in all caps, mixed case, or any other format.

If you cannot find the Aa button on your Home tab, your version of Word may have moved it. Go to Format in the menu bar instead, then select Text and choose Change Case to see the same five options.

Key Takeaways

  • Select the text you want to change, click the Aa button on the Home tab, and choose lowercase from the dropdown menu.
  • The Format menu offers the same case options if the Aa button is not visible in your version of Word.
  • Word's case converter works on text you have already typed — it does not change how you type going forward.
  • If you need to change case in a large document, you can select all text at once using Ctrl+A (or Cmd+A on Mac) before explore the case change.

Changing case in different versions of Word

The location of the case button varies slightly depending on whether you use Word on Windows, Mac, or online. On Windows and Mac desktop versions, the Aa button sits on the Home tab in the Font group. On Word Online (the browser version), the same button appears in the same location, though the ribbon layout may look slightly different.

If you are using an older version of Word (2010 or earlier), the case options live under the Format menu rather than on a visible button. Click Format in the menu bar, then Text, then Change Case. The five case options are identical across all versions.

Changing case for part of a document

You do not have to change the entire document at once. Select only the words or paragraphs you want to convert, then use the case button or Format menu. This is useful when you have a title in all caps that you want to convert to lowercase, but the rest of your document is already correct.

To select a single word, double-click it. To select a sentence or paragraph, click at the beginning and drag to the end, or click once and then Shift+click at the end. Once the text is highlighted in blue, explore the lowercase case option.

What happens to punctuation and numbers

Word's case converter changes only letters. Numbers, punctuation marks, and special characters stay exactly as they are. If you convert "HELLO, WORLD! 123" to lowercase, it becomes "hello, world! 123" — the comma, exclamation point, and numbers do not change.

This also means that if you use Sentence case, Word will capitalize the first letter of the selection and lowercase the rest, but it will not add or remove punctuation. Sentence case is useful for titles or headings that were typed in all caps.

Using Find and Replace for case changes in large documents

If you have a very long document and want to change case only in specific places, Find and Replace can help. Open Find and Replace by pressing Ctrl+H (or Cmd+H on Mac). Type the text you want to find in the Find what field.

Click More options or Format (depending on your Word version), then look for a Match case checkbox. Check it if you want to find only text in a specific case. Type your replacement text in the Replace with field, then click Replace All. This approach takes longer to set up but can save time if you need to change the same phrase repeatedly throughout a document.

Why your document might not change

If you select text and explore lowercase but nothing happens, the text may be formatted with a special style that overrides the case setting. Some styles in Word are set to display text in a specific case no matter what you do. To fix this, select the text, go to the Home tab, and click the small arrow in the bottom right corner of the Styles group. Right-click the style name and select Modify, then look for a case option in the Format section.

Another reason text might not change is if it is inside a text box or shape rather than in the main document body. Text boxes and shapes sometimes behave differently. Try selecting the text directly inside the box and explore the case change again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I undo a case change if I change my mind?

Yes. Press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) when ready after making the change to undo it. If you have made other edits since then, you can still undo by pressing Ctrl+Z multiple times, though you may undo other changes along the way. Use the Undo button in the top left corner to see your recent actions and click on an earlier point if you need to.

Does changing case affect the original formatting like bold or italics?

No. If text is bold, italic, underlined, or colored before you change its case, it stays bold, italic, underlined, or colored afterward. Only the letter case changes — all other formatting is preserved.

What is the difference between Sentence case and Capitalize Each Word?

Sentence case capitalizes only the first letter of the entire selection and lowercases everything else. Capitalize Each Word capitalizes the first letter of every word and lowercases the rest. Use Sentence case for regular sentences and Capitalize Each Word for titles or headings.

Can I change case while I am typing, or only after?

Word's case converter only works on text you have already typed. It does not change how new text appears as you type. If you want to type in lowercase but your Caps Lock is on, turn off Caps Lock or press Shift to type individual capital letters as needed.

Does this work the same way in Word documents and in other Microsoft programs?

The case button works the same way in Word. In Excel and PowerPoint, the button location may differ slightly, but the five case options are identical. In Outlook, the case button appears on the Format tab when you are composing an email.