text-transform property CSS Reference



Definition and Usage

The text-transform CSS property specifies how to capitalize an element's text. It can be used to make text appear in all-uppercase or all-lowercase, or with each word capitalized.

The text-transform property takes into account language-specific case mapping rules, like:

  • in Turkic languages, like Turkish (tr), Azerbaijani (az), Crimean Tatar (crh), Volga Tatar (tt), and Bashkir (ba), there are two kinds of i, with and without the dot, and two case pairings: i/İ and ı/I.
  • In German (de), the ß becomes SS in uppercase.
  • In Dutch (nl), the ij digraph becomes IJ, even in the text-transform: capitalize case which only put the first letter of a word in uppercase.
  • In Greek (el), vowels lose their accent when the whole word is in uppercase (ά/Α), except for the disjunctive eta (ή/Ή). Also, diphthongs with an accent on the first vowel lose the accent and gain a diaeresis on the second vowel (άι/ΑΪ).
  • In Greek (el), the lowercase sigma character has two forms: σ and ς. ς is used only when sigma terminates a word. When applying text-transform: lowercase to an uppercase sigma (Σ), the browser needs to choose the right lowercase form based on context.

The language is defined by the lang HTML attribute or the xml:lang XML attribute.

  • Initial none
  • Applies to all elements
  • Inherited yes
  • Media visual
  • Computed Value as specified
  • Animatable no
  • Canonical order the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar

Syntax

Formal syntax: none | capitalize | uppercase | lowercase | full-width
text-transform: capitalize
text-transform: uppercase
text-transform: lowercase
text-transform: none
text-transform: full-width
text-transform: inherit

Values

capitalize
Is a keyword forcing the first letter of each word to be converted to uppercase. Other characters are unchanged; that is, they retain their original case as written in the element's text. A letter is any Unicode character part of the Letter or Number general categories : it excludes any punctuation marks or symbols at the beginning of the word.

Authors should not expect capitalize to follow language-specific titlecasing conventions (such as skipping articles in English).

uppercase
Is a keyword forcing all characters to be converted to uppercase.
lowercase
Is a keyword forcing all characters to be converted to lowercase.
none
Is a keyword preventing the case of all characters to be changed.
full-width
Is a keyword forcing the writing of a character, mainly ideograms and latin scripts inside a square, allowing them to be aligned in the usual East Asian scripts (like Chinese or Japanese).

Examples

p { text-transform: none; }
Initial string Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live example Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference result Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
p { text-transform: capitalize; }
Initial string Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live example Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference result Lorem Ipsum Dolor Sit Amet, Consectetur Adipisicing Elit, ...
p { text-transform: capitalize; } Initial punctuations of a word are ignored. The keyword target the first letter, that is the first Unicode character part of the Letter or Number general category.
Initial string (this) “is” [a] –short– -test- «for» *the* _css_ ¿capitalize? ?¡transform!
Live example (this) “is” [a] –short– -test- «for» *the* _css_ ¿capitalize? ?¡transform!
Reference result (This) “Is” [A] –Short– -Test- «For» *The* _Css_ ¿Capitalize? ?¡Transform!
p { text-transform: capitalize; } Initial symbols are ignored. The keyword target the first letter, that is the first Unicode character part of the Letter or Number general category.
Initial string ⓐⓑⓒ (ⓓⓔⓕ) —ⓖⓗⓘ— ⓙkl
Live example ⓐⓑⓒ (ⓓⓔⓕ) —ⓖⓗⓘ— ⓙkl
Reference result ⓐⓑⓒ (ⓓⓔⓕ) —ⓖⓗⓘ— ⓙKl
p { text-transform: capitalize; } The Dutch ij digraph must be handled like one single letter
Initial string The Dutch word: "ijsland" starts with a digraph.
Live example The Dutch word: "ijsland" starts with a digraph.
Reference result The Dutch Word: "IJsland" Starts With A Digraph.
p { text-transform: uppercase; }
Initial string Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live example Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference result LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR ADIPISICING ELIT, ...
p { text-transform: uppercase; } Greek vowels except disjunctive eta should have no accent, and the accent on the first vowel of a vowel pair becomes a diaeresis on the second vowel
Initial string Θα πάμε στο "Θεϊκό φαΐ" ή στη "Νεράιδα";
Live example Θα πάμε στο "Θεϊκό φαΐ" ή στη "Νεράιδα";
Reference result ΘΑ ΠΑΜΕ ΣΤΟ "ΘΕΪΚΟ ΦΑΪ" Ή ΣΤΗ "ΝΕΡΑΪΔΑ";
p { text-transform: lowercase; }
Initial string Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live example Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference result lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
p { text-transform: lowercase; } The Greek character sigma (Σ) is transformed into the regular lowercase sigma (σ) or the word-final variant (ς), according the context.
Initial string Σ IS A greek LETTER that appears SEVERAL TIMES IN ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ.
Live example Σ IS A greek LETTER that appears SEVERAL TIMES IN ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ.
Reference result σ is a greek letter that appears several times in ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥς.
p { text-transform: full-width; } Some characters exists in two formats, normal width and a full-width, with different Unicode code points. The full-width version is used to mix them smoothly with Asian ideographic characters.
Initial string 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~
Live example 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~
Reference result 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~

Compatibility

Desktop browsers

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 1.0 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) 4.0 7.0 1.0
capitalize (CSS3 version) see note 14.0 (14) (see note) see note NA see note
full-size-kana Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported
full-width Not supported 19.0 (19) Not supported Not supported Not supported
ßSS NA 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) NA NA NA
iİ and ıI Not supported 14.0 (14) NA NA Not supported
Dutch IJ digraph Not supported 14.0 (14) Not supported Not supported Not supported
Greek accented letters Not supported 15.0 (15) Not supported Not supported Not supported
Σσ or word-final ς 30 14.0 (14) Not supported Not supported 6.0

Mobile browsers

Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Phone Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support 1.0 1.0 (1) 6.0 6.0 1.0
capitalize (CSS3 version) see note 14.0 (14) see note see note NA see note
full-size-kana Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported
full-width Not supported 19.0 (19) Not supported Not supported Not supported
ßSS NA 1.0 (1) NA NA NA
iİ and ıI Not supported 14.0 (14) NA NA Not supported
Dutch IJ digraph Not supported 14.0 (14) Not supported Not supported Not supported
Greek accented letters Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported Not supported
Σσ or word-final ς Not supported 14.0 (14) Not supported Not supported Not supported

Relative articles