PROPER Function in Excel
Master the PROPER function to capitalize first letters in text. Learn syntax, examples, and solutions to common formatting issues in Excel and Google Sheets.
Excel
Google SheetsExcelGoogle Sheets=PROPER(text)Practical Examples
Basic Name Formatting
Convert inconsistently formatted names to proper case
Address Formatting
Standardize address information for mailing labels
Company Name Standardization
Format company names from various data sources
Email Display Name Creation
Generate professional display names from email addresses
Product Title Formatting
Standardize product names for e-commerce catalog
Error Handling with PROPER
Handling special cases and errors in text formatting
Common Errors and Solutions
PROPER returns #VALUE! error
The input contains an error value or incompatible data type
1. Check if the referenced cell contains an error 2. Ensure the input is text or can be converted to text 3. Use IFERROR to handle error values: =IFERROR(PROPER(A2), "Error in source") 4. Verify that cell references are correct 5. Check for circular references in your formula
Always validate your data before applying PROPER. Use ISTEXT() to check if the value is text before processing
Example:
PROPER incorrectly formats acronyms, surnames, or brand names
PROPER capitalizes the first letter after any non-letter character, which affects acronyms (IBM→Ibm), surnames (McDonald→Mcdonald), and brands (iPhone→Iphone)
1. Create a lookup table with exceptions 2. Use SUBSTITUTE after PROPER for known cases 3. Implement a custom function for complex rules 4. Manual review for critical data 5. Example fix: =SUBSTITUTE(PROPER(A2), "Mcdonald", "McDonald")
Maintain a list of exceptions and use nested SUBSTITUTE functions or create a custom formatting solution for data with known special cases
Example:
PROPER capitalizes letters after numbers or punctuation unexpectedly
PROPER treats any non-letter character as a word separator, causing issues like '3rd' becoming '3Rd' or '(text)' becoming '(Text)'
1. Use LOWER on specific portions that shouldn't be capitalized 2. Apply REPLACE to fix specific positions 3. Create conditional formatting rules 4. Use regular expressions in Google Sheets with REGEXREPLACE 5. Implement a two-step process: PROPER then corrections
Review your data for numbers and special characters before applying PROPER, and plan for post-processing corrections
Example:
PROPER formula doesn't update when source data changes
Calculation mode may be set to Manual, or the formula has been converted to values
1. Press F9 to recalculate all formulas 2. Check if Calculation Options is set to 'Automatic' (Formulas tab) 3. Verify the formula hasn't been converted to static values 4. Use Ctrl+Alt+F9 to force full recalculation 5. Check for broken cell references
Keep calculation mode on Automatic and avoid converting formulas to values unless necessary for performance
Example:
Best Practices and Advanced Techniques
Always use TRIM with PROPER when processing data from external sources: =PROPER(TRIM(A2)). This removes leading/trailing spaces and reduces multiple spaces to single spaces before formatting, ensuring clean, professional results. This combination is particularly effective when importing data from databases, web forms, or CSV files where spacing inconsistencies are common.
Maintain a separate table with text that shouldn't follow standard PROPER rules (acronyms like IBM, USA, special names like McDonald, iPhone). Use VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP to check against this table after applying PROPER. This approach ensures consistency across your organization and makes updates easy.
PROPER doesn't handle international naming conventions correctly. Names like 'von Neumann', 'de la Rosa', or 'van der Berg' will be incorrectly capitalized. Consider maintaining a separate process for international names or use custom functions for specific locales.
For datasets with 10,000+ rows, PROPER performs efficiently but consider: 1) Converting formulas to values after processing to improve workbook performance, 2) Using PROPER in a helper column then deleting it, 3) Processing in batches for extremely large datasets. Array formulas with PROPER in Excel 365 can process entire columns efficiently.
Extract and format names from email addresses using this pattern: =PROPER(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(A2,FIND("@",A2)-1),"." ," "),"_"," ")). This handles both dots and underscores as name separators, converting '[email protected]' to 'John Doe'.
PROPER correctly handles Unicode characters and maintains accents in names like 'José' or 'François'. It recognizes these as letters and doesn't trigger capitalization after them. This makes it suitable for international datasets without modification for most Latin-based alphabets.
For recurring data cleaning tasks, consider using Power Query (Get & Transform in Excel). It has a built-in 'Capitalize Each Word' transformation that works similarly to PROPER but can be part of an automated data pipeline. This is ideal for regular data imports where the same formatting rules apply.
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Example Excel formula:
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