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 stringLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live exampleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference resultLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
p { text-transform: capitalize; }
Initial stringLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live exampleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference resultLorem 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 stringThe Dutch word: "ijsland" starts with a digraph.
Live exampleThe Dutch word: "ijsland" starts with a digraph.
Reference resultThe Dutch Word: "IJsland" Starts With A Digraph.
p { text-transform: uppercase; }
Initial stringLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live exampleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference resultLOREM 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 stringΘα πάμε στο "Θεϊκό φαΐ" ή στη "Νεράιδα";
Live exampleΘα πάμε στο "Θεϊκό φαΐ" ή στη "Νεράιδα";
Reference resultΘΑ ΠΑΜΕ ΣΤΟ "ΘΕΪΚΟ ΦΑΪ" Ή ΣΤΗ "ΝΕΡΑΪΔΑ";
p { text-transform: lowercase; }
Initial stringLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Live exampleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, ...
Reference resultlorem 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 stringΣ IS A greek LETTER that appears SEVERAL TIMES IN ΟΔΥΣΣΕΥΣ.
Live exampleΣ 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 string0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~
Live example0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~
Reference result0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ!"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?@{|}~

Compatibility

Desktop browsers

FeatureChromeFirefox (Gecko)Internet ExplorerOperaSafari
Basic support1.01.0 (1.7 or earlier)4.07.01.0
capitalize (CSS3 version)see note14.0 (14) (see note)see noteNAsee note
full-size-kanaNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supported
full-widthNot supported19.0 (19)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported
ßSSNA1.0 (1.7 or earlier)NANANA
iİ and ıINot supported14.0 (14)NANANot supported
Dutch IJ digraphNot supported14.0 (14)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported
Greek accented lettersNot supported15.0 (15)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported
Σσ or word-final ς3014.0 (14)Not supportedNot supported6.0

Mobile browsers

FeatureAndroidFirefox Mobile (Gecko)IE PhoneOpera MobileSafari Mobile
Basic support1.01.0 (1)6.06.01.0
capitalize (CSS3 version)see note14.0 (14) see notesee noteNAsee note
full-size-kanaNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supported
full-widthNot supported19.0 (19)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported
ßSSNA1.0 (1)NANANA
iİ and ıINot supported14.0 (14)NANANot supported
Dutch IJ digraphNot supported14.0 (14)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported
Greek accented lettersNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supportedNot supported
Σσ or word-final ςNot supported14.0 (14)Not supportedNot supportedNot supported

Relative articles