Title Case Converter: Live AP, Chicago & APA Headline Tool
Capitalize headlines and article titles according to official AP, Chicago, APA, and MLA editorial style guides. Automatically lowercases minor prepositions and conjunctions, handles hyphenated compound words, and preserves all-caps technical acronyms.
To convert text to title case, capitalize the first letter of all major words, including the first and last words of the headline. Minor words—such as articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or), and short prepositions (in, on, at, to)—remain in lowercase unless they begin or end the title.
Title Case Rules: Major vs. Minor Words
In publishing and journalism, title capitalization is governed by the grammatical distinction between major words and minor words:
- Always Capitalized (Major Words): Nouns, verbs (including short verbs like Is, Are, Be), adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.
- Lowercased (Minor Words): Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet), and short prepositions.
- The Universal First & Last Word Rule: Every major style guide mandates that the first word and last word of a headline must always be capitalized, regardless of part of speech (e.g., "What to Look For" capitalizes For because it ends the title).
Style Guides Comparison: AP vs. Chicago vs. APA vs. MLA
| Style Guide | Prepositions Rule | Word Length Threshold | Primary Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP Style (Associated Press) | Capitalizes prepositions with 4+ letters (With, From, Over) | Lowercase ≤ 3 letters | Journalism, newspapers, online blogs, PR |
| Chicago (CMOS) | Lowercases ALL prepositions regardless of length (through, between) | All prepositions | Book publishing, academic journals, non-fiction |
| APA (7th Edition) | Capitalizes words with 4+ letters; lowercases ≤ 3 letters | Lowercase ≤ 3 letters | Psychology, social sciences, research papers |
| MLA Style | Lowercases all prepositions and coordinating conjunctions | All prepositions | Humanities, literature, arts essays |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should the word "is" be capitalized in title case?
Yes. "Is" is a verb (a form of the verb "to be"). All verbs—regardless of how short they are—must be capitalized in title case across all major style guides.
Why is "with" capitalized in AP style but lowercased in Chicago style?
AP style capitalizes all words with four or more letters (since "with" has four letters, it is capitalized). Chicago style lowercases all prepositions regardless of length.
How are hyphenated compound words formatted in title case?
Both elements of a hyphenated compound word are capitalized unless the second element is a minor word like an article or short preposition (e.g., State-of-the-Art vs. Out-of-the-Box).
Does this tool preserve acronyms like SEO, API, or NASA?
Yes. When the "Preserve technical acronyms" option is enabled, all-caps acronyms remain uppercase rather than being converted into mixed case (e.g., API stays API, not Api).
Is my headline text saved on a server?
No. All text tokenization and capitalization algorithms execute 100% locally inside your browser's runtime memory using JavaScript. No titles or text are transmitted over a network or saved in an external database.