Title case vs sentence case: when to use each
By the FreeAllTool team · Updated October 28, 2026
Look at the headings on any website, newspaper or app and you will notice two main styles. Some capitalise almost every word, like “How to Make the Perfect Cup of Tea”. Others capitalise only the first word and names, like “How to make the perfect cup of tea”. Both are correct. What matters is choosing one and using it consistently.
Title case
In title case, the main words are capitalised. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns get a capital letter. Short words such as a, an, the, and, but, or, in, on and of usually stay lowercase unless they are the first or last word. Different style guides disagree on details, such as whether to capitalise prepositions of five letters or more.
Title case is common for book and film titles, newspaper headlines in many countries, product names and formal reports. It gives headings a traditional, formal feel.
Sentence case
Sentence case follows the same rules as a normal sentence. Only the first word and proper nouns, such as names of people, places and brands, are capitalised. Many modern websites, apps and government services use sentence case because it is quicker to read and avoids the question of which small words to capitalise.
Which should you choose?
- Websites and apps: sentence case is easier to scan and feels friendly. Buttons and menus in particular read better in sentence case.
- Academic papers: follow the style guide your institution or journal requires, such as APA or MLA, because they set specific rules.
- Books, films and songs: titles of works are usually written in title case when you mention them.
- Brand writing: follow your organisation’s style guide if it has one.
Avoid all capitals for long text
Text written entirely in capitals is harder to read because every letter has the same height, so words lose their familiar shape. It can also feel like shouting. Keep all capitals for very short labels or acronyms.
Change case quickly
If you have a list of headings in the wrong style, paste them into our case converter and switch them in one click. Remember to fix proper nouns by hand after converting to sentence case, since a tool cannot always tell that “Mumbai” or “Google” needs a capital.