How to Change Caps Lock Text Back to Normal in Word (2026)

You accidentally had Caps Lock on while typing in Word and now you’re staring at a paragraph of ALL CAPS text you don’t want to retype. Word has four built-in ways to fix this without deleting a single character.

Before jumping in: there are actually two different “all caps” problems in Word. One is text that was genuinely typed in uppercase. The other is text that looks uppercase because of an All Caps font effect, where the underlying letters are still lowercase. The fixes below cover both.

Fix #1: Use Shift+F3 to cycle through cases (fastest)

This is the quickest fix for text you accidentally typed in all caps.

1. Highlight the all-caps text you want to fix.

2. Press Shift+F3 once. The text changes to all lowercase.
3. Press Shift+F3 a second time. The text changes to UPPERCASE (back to all caps).
4. Press Shift+F3 a third time. The text changes to Capitalize Each Word (title case, first letter of every word capitalized).

Keep pressing Shift+F3 until the case you want appears, then stop. This works identically in Microsoft 365, Office 2024, and Word for the web.

Fix #2: Use the Change Case button in the ribbon

If you prefer clicking over keyboard shortcuts, the ribbon gives you more options, including Sentence case and tOGGLE cASE, that Shift+F3 doesn’t cycle through.

1. Highlight the text you want to change.
2. Click the Home tab in the ribbon.
3. In the Font group, click the Change Case button. It looks like a capital and lowercase “Aa” stacked together.

4. Select your desired case from the dropdown:
   • Sentence case, which capitalizes the first letter of each sentence
   • lowercase, which makes everything lowercase
   • UPPERCASE, which makes everything uppercase
   • Capitalize Each Word, for title case
   • tOGGLE cASE, which flips each letter’s case (useful if you typed with Shift held down instead of Caps Lock)

Fix #3: Remove the “All Caps” font effect with Ctrl+Shift+A

If Shift+F3 doesn’t change anything, or if the text goes back to looking uppercase the moment you click away, the problem isn’t how the text was typed. It’s a font formatting effect called All Caps that forces text to display in uppercase regardless of what you actually typed. Removing the effect reveals the original lowercase letters underneath.

1. Highlight the affected text.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+A to toggle the All Caps effect off.

If you’d rather do it manually:

1. Highlight the text, then right-click and choose Font.

2. In the Font dialog, find the All caps checkbox under Effects and uncheck it.
3. Click OK.

The text will now display in its original case. If everything comes back as lowercase, use Fix #1 or Fix #2 to shape it into the case you actually want.

Fix #4: Apply Small Caps formatting

Small caps isn’t a case-conversion fix. It’s a formatting style that makes lowercase letters look like smaller versions of uppercase letters. It’s commonly used for headings and pull quotes. If that’s what you’re after:

1. Highlight the text you want to format as small caps.
2. Press Ctrl+Shift+K to apply Small Caps instantly.

To apply it through the menu instead:

1. Right-click the selected text and choose Font.
2. Check the Small caps box under Effects.
3. Click OK.

If Word keeps capitalizing text automatically

If the problem isn’t a one-time Caps Lock slip but Word keeps auto-capitalizing as you type, AutoCorrect is the likely cause.

1. Click File > Options.
2. Select Proofing from the left sidebar.
3. Click AutoCorrect Options.
4. On the AutoCorrect tab, uncheck rules like Capitalize first letter of sentences or Capitalize first letter of table cells as needed.
5. Click OK twice to close both dialogs.

If the problem happens in every app, not just Word

If text is appearing in all caps in Notepad, your browser, and everywhere else, not just Word, the issue is your keyboard, not Word. Check that Caps Lock is actually off (look for the indicator light on your keyboard). On a wireless keyboard, low batteries can cause stuck-key behavior. Try replacing the batteries or plugging in via USB.

Conclusion

Shift+F3 solves the accidental Caps Lock problem for most people in under two seconds. If the text stubbornly stays uppercase even after pressing it, you’re dealing with an All Caps font effect, reach for Ctrl+Shift+A instead. AutoCorrect is worth checking only if Word keeps re-capitalizing text you’ve already corrected.