Syntax
PROPER(text)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| text | Parameter of the PROPER function. |
Examples
Title case a name
Formula
=PROPER(A2)
Returns: "John Smith" — capitalizes first letter of each word from "john smith" or "JOHN SMITH"
Format an address
Formula
=PROPER(A2)
Returns: "123 Main Street, Springfield" — from "123 MAIN STREET, SPRINGFIELD"
Clean up pasted data
Formula
=PROPER(TRIM(LOWER(A2)))
Returns: neatly formatted title-case text with extra spaces removed
Common Errors
#VALUE!
The argument is an error value. PROPER requires a text string or number (numbers are returned as-is).
Tips
Acronym limitation
PROPER converts "USA" to "Usa" and "LLC" to "Llc". You may need SUBSTITUTE to fix these: =SUBSTITUTE(PROPER(A1),"Llc","LLC").
After apostrophes
PROPER capitalizes after apostrophes: "o'brien" becomes "O'Brien", which is usually correct for names.
Not for sentences
PROPER capitalizes every word, so "the quick brown fox" becomes "The Quick Brown Fox" — not suitable for sentence case.
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