Upper function in excel

This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the UPPER function in Microsoft Excel.

Description

Converts text to uppercase.

Syntax

UPPER(text)

The UPPER function syntax has the following arguments:

• Text    Required. The text you want converted to uppercase. Text can be a reference or text string.

Example

Copy the example data in the following table, and paste it in cell A1 of a new Excel worksheet. For formulas to show results, select them, press F2, and then press Enter. If you need to, you can adjust the column widths to see all the data.

Data
total
Yield
Formula	Description	Result
=UPPER(A2)	Returns all upper case of text in cell A2.	TOTAL
=UPPER(A3)	Returns all upper case of text in cell A3.	YIELD

Since Excel doesn’t allow the inbuilt functionality of altering case types as Microsoft Word does, the UPPER function helps change the text to capital letters. All lowercase values are transformed to uppercase using the UPPER function. As it is a text function, the return value is always in text format.

Syntax

The syntax of the UPPER function contains a single argument and is as follows.

=UPPER(text)

Arguments:

‘text‘ – This is a mandatory argument. It is the input value that we want to convert to uppercase. The text argument can be a direct text or string in double quotes or a cell reference containing the value.

Important Characteristics of the UPPER Function

The notable features of the UPPER function are as follows:

• If the function’s name or argument is incorrectly entered, Excel returns a #NAME error.
• The UPPER function converts the input number to text.
• When the text argument contains values with number formatting, the UPPER function removes the formatting in the return value.
• If the value of the text argument contains spaces or any special characters, the UPPER function does not affect them.

Examples of UPPER Function

The UPPER function provides a convenient and useful application, especially when dealing with large text data which requires a consistent case type. Let’s understand the total utility of the function with the help of examples.

Example 1 – Plain Vanilla Version of UPPER Function

Here, we have taken a few sample data in lower and proper cases. We have also included an example of a string containing numbers and accented letters. Let’s try using the UPPER function on them to understand its functionality better.

The formula used will be as follows.

=UPPER(B3)

As we can see, the first example was in proper case where the UPPER function changed all the lowercase letters to capital letters. Similar is the case in the second example. The third example is alphanumeric text, where the UPPER function changed the case type of all the letters while leaving the numbers unchanged. The fourth and last instance also confirms that the UPPER function works on accented letters changing its case type to uppercase.

Now that we have understood the basic functionality of the UPPER function, let’s try and use it in a simple application.

Example 2 – Joining Text with UPPER Function

In this example, we asked people to submit their home addresses. As all the input fields were separate, the address was divided into columns for address, city, and state.

For the complete mailing address, we can simply combine the parts in columns C, D, and E using the TEXTJOIN function or ampersand symbol (&). But, the names of the states are in lowercase, whereas ideally, they should be in uppercase. So, using the UPPER function, we can capitalize the state’s name and then combine it to form a complete address.

The formula used will be as follows.

=TEXTJOIN(", ",TRUE,C3,D3,UPPER(E3))

Now, the complete address can be used directly for mailing.

Example 3 – Converting Date into Uppercase

As mentioned, one of the characteristics of the UPPER function is that when used on Number Format values, the return value loses its formatting. So, if the UPPER function is used on dates, the return value is the number sequence as stored in Excel.

Then, how to convert dates in uppercase?

The solution is to use a combination of TEXT and UPPER functions. The TEXT function will first convert the value into text format and present it in the given date format. The UPPER function will then convert the return value of the TEXT function into uppercase.

The formula used will be as follows.

=UPPER(TEXT(B3,"mmmm d, yyyy"))

In his way, we can transform all values in number formats to uppercase in Excel.

Example 4 – Checking if Text is in Uppercase

In this instance, we have downloaded a list of acronyms and abbreviations from the web. We have to check and forward the list further. As they were downloaded, a few abbreviations are in lowercase which is neither correct nor presentable. Checking them manually would be time-consuming, so we will use the EXACT and UPPER functions instead.

So, let’s check if the short forms are in uppercase. The formula used will be as follows.

=EXACT(C3,UPPER(C3))

We first convert the value in column C to uppercase using the UPPER function and then make a case-sensitive comparison with the original value using the EXACT function.

As we can see, many abbreviations and acronyms are not in capital letters, since the return value of the EXACT function is FALSE. To solve this, we can wrap up the EXACT and UPPER functions in a simple IF function to finally convert all the abbreviations to uppercase. The logic used will be as follows.

If the text in column C is in uppercase, then return the text as it otherwise, convert the text to uppercase and return it.

The formula used will be as follows:

=IF(EXACT(C3,UPPER(C3)),C3,UPPER(C3))

We now have the final data, which is both presentable and grammatically correct.

Example 5 – Using Data Validation with UPPER Function

Instead of checking the existing data for its case type, we can use the UPPER function along with the Data Validation option in Excel to compel the users to enter details only in uppercase. This way, the data collected will be in the correct case type.

In this instance, we are collecting the information in our guest book, which includes names, phone numbers, and remarks. The phone number and remarks can be in any case type, while we want all the names in uppercase for further data processing. We will apply Data Validation only in the cells that will carry the names.

First, select the cell and under the Data tab, choose the Data Validation option from Data Tools.

Once you select the Data validation option, a dialogue box pops up. In the Validation criteria, choose Custom.

Now enter the UPPER function to be used in the Formula tab and Press OK. The formula used will be as follows.

=AND(EXACT(B5,UPPER(B5)),ISTEXT(B5))

You are now all set. The Data Validation will automatically get activated as soon as the user enters data. Now, let’s understand the logic behind the formula used.

The UPPER function first transforms the input value to uppercase. The EXACT function then compares the return value of the UPPER function with the input value to check if they are in the same case type, which is uppercase.

The second part of the formula using the ISTEXT function is an additional check of whether the input value is in text format. Combining both functions in the AND function, the Data Validation approves the input value only if both functions return the value TRUE. This means that only if the input value is text and is in capital letters will Excel accept the value.

If the input value does not meet these two conditions, Excel returns an error as a pop-up.

At the end of the day, all the data collected in the guest book will contain names only in uppercase.

LOWER vs. UPPER vs. PROPER Functions

There are other text functions, like the UPPER function, which help change the case type of the input value. The LOWER function modifies the case of the input value to lowercase, while the PROPER function capitalizes the initials of each word.

Here we have taken a famous quote as an input value for all three functions in cell C2.

As we can see, all three functions change the input value to the intended case type.

We hope you understood all there was about the UPPER function. Practice the UPPER function to discover more applications till we return with another intriguing and practical Excel function to make your data look more stunning and presentable.

Date yes Add (Subtract) Days to a Date Concatenate Dates Convert Date to Number Convert Date to Text Month Name to Number Create Date Range from Dates Day Number of Year Month Name from Date First Day of Month Add (Subtract) Weeks to a Date If Functions with Dates Max Date Number of Days Between Dates Number of Days in a Month Number of Weeks Between Dates Number of Years Between Dates Split Date & Time into Separate Cells Countdown Remaining Days Insert Dates Random Date Generator Using Dynamic Ranges — Year to Date Values Add (Subtract) Years to a Date Date Formula Examples Extract Day from Date Get Day Name from Date Count Days Left in Month / Year Count Workdays Left in Month / Year Get Last Day of Month Last Business Day of Month / Year Number of Work / Business Days in Month Weekday Abbreviations Auto Populate Dates Number of Months Between Dates Quarter from a Date Years of Service Change Date Format Compare Dates Time yes Add (Subtract) Hours to Time Add (Subtract) Minutes to Time Add (Subtract) Seconds to Time Add Up time (Total Time) Time Differences Change Time Format Convert Minutes to Hours Convert Time to Decimal Convert Time to Hours Convert Time to Minutes Convert Time to Seconds Military Time Round Time to Nearest 15 Minutes Overtime Calculator Number of Hours Between Times Convert Seconds to Minutes, Hours, or Time Count Hours Worked Time Differences Time Format — Show Minutes Seconds Text yes Add Commas to Cells Get First Word from Text Capitalize First Letter Clean & Format Phone #s Remove Extra Trailing / Leading Spaces Add Spaces to Cell Assign Number Value to Text Combine Cells with Comma Combine First and Last Names Convert Text String to Date Convert Text to Number Extract Text From Cell Get Last Word Remove Unwated Characters Extract Text Before or After Character How to Split Text String by Space, Comma, & More Remove Special Characters Remove First Characters from Left Substitute Multiple Values Switch First & Last Names w/ Commas Remove Specific Text from a Cell Extract Text Between Characters (Ex. 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Return Blank Instead XLOOKUP Text XLOOKUP with IF XLOOKUP With If Statement Misc. yes Sort Multiple Columns Use Cell Value in Formula Percentage Change Between Numbers Percentage Breakdown Rank Values Add Spaces to Cell CAGR Formula Average Time Decimal Part of Number Integer Part of a Number Compare Items in a List Dealing with NA() Errors Get Worksheet Name Wildcard Characters Hyperlink to Current Folder Compound Interest Formula Percentage Increase Create Random Groups Sort with the Small and Large Functions Non-volatile Function Alternatives Decrease a Number by a Percentage Calculate Percent Variance Profit Margin Calculator Convert Column Number to Letter Get Full Address of Named Range Insert File Name Insert Path Latitute / Longitude Functions Replace Negative Values Reverse List Range Convert State Name to Abbreviation Create Dynamic Hyperlinks Custom Sort List with Formula Data Validation — Custom Formulas Dynamic Sheet Reference (INDIRECT) Reference Cell in Another Sheet or Workbook Get Cell Value by Address Get Worksheet Name Increment Cell Reference List Sheet Names List Skipped Numbers in Sequence Return Address of Max Value in Range Search by Keywords Select Every Other (or Every nth) Row Basics yes Cell Reference Basics — A1, R1C1, 3d, etc. Add Up (Sum) Entire Column or Row Into to Dynamic Array Formulas Conversions yes Convert Time Zones Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit Convert Pounds to Kilograms Convert Time to Unix Time Convert Feet to Meters Convert Centimeters to Inches Convert Kilometers to Miles Convert Inches to Feet Convert Date to Julian Format Convert Column Letter to Number Tests yes Test if a Range Contains any Text Test if any Cell in Range is Number Test if a Cell Contains a Specific Value Test if Cell Contains Any Number Test if Cell Contains Specific Number Test if Cell is Number or Text If yes Percentile If Subtotal If Sumproduct If Large If and Small If Median If Concatentate If Max If Rank If TEXTJOIN If Sum yes Sum if — Begins With / Ends With Sum if — Month or Year to Date Sum if — By Year Sum if — Blank / Non-Blank Sum if — Horizontal Sum Count / Sum If — Cell Color INDIRECT Sum Sum If — Across Multiple Sheets Sum If — By Month Sum If — Cells Not Equal To Sum If — Not Blank Sum if — Between Values Sum If — Week Number Sum Text Sum if — By Category or Group Sum if — Cell Contains Specific Text (Wildcards) Sum if — Date Rnage Sum if — Dates Equal Sum if — Day of Week Sum if — Greater Than Sum if — Less Than Average yes Average Non-Zero Values Average If — Not Blank Average — Ignore 0 Average — Ignore Errors Math yes Multiplication Table Cube Roots nth Roots Square Numbers Square Roots Calculations yes Calculate a Ratio Calculate Age KILLLLLLL Calculate Loan Payments GPA Formula Calculate VAT Tax How to Grade Formulas Find yes Find a Number in a Column / Workbook Find Most Frequent Numbers Find Smallest n Values Find nth Occurance of Character in Text Find and Extract Number from String Find Earliest or Latest Date Based on Criteria Find First Cell with Any Value Find Last Row Find Last Row with Data Find Missing Values Find Largest n Values Most Frequent Number Conditional Formatting yes Conditional Format — Dates & Times Conditional Format — Highlight Blank Cells New Functions XLOOKUP Replaces VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and INDEX / MATCH Logical yes AND Checks whether all conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE IF If condition is met, do something, if not, do something else. IFERROR If result is an error then do something else. NOT Changes TRUE to FALSE and FALSE to TRUE. OR Checks whether any conditions are met. TRUE/FALSE XOR Checks whether one and only one condition is met. TRUE/FALSE Lookup & Reference yes FALSE The logical value: FALSE. TRUE The logical value: TRUE. ADDRESS Returns a cell address as text. AREAS Returns the number of areas in a reference. CHOOSE Chooses a value from a list based on it’s position number. COLUMN Returns the column number of a cell reference. COLUMNS Returns the number of columns in an array. HLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first row and return a value. HYPERLINK Creates a clickable link. INDEX Returns a value based on it’s column and row numbers. INDIRECT Creates a cell reference from text. LOOKUP Looks up values either horizontally or vertically. MATCH Searches for a value in a list and returns its position. OFFSET Creates a reference offset from a starting point. ROW Returns the row number of a cell reference. ROWS Returns the number of rows in an array. TRANSPOSE Flips the oriention of a range of cells. VLOOKUP Lookup a value in the first column and return a value. Date & Time yes DATE Returns a date from year, month, and day. DATEDIF Number of days, months or years between two dates. DATEVALUE Converts a date stored as text into a valid date DAY Returns the day as a number (1-31). DAYS Returns the number of days between two dates. DAYS360 Returns days between 2 dates in a 360 day year. EDATE Returns a date, n months away from a start date. EOMONTH Returns the last day of the month, n months away date. HOUR Returns the hour as a number (0-23). MINUTE Returns the minute as a number (0-59). MONTH Returns the month as a number (1-12). NETWORKDAYS Number of working days between 2 dates. NETWORKDAYS.INTL Working days between 2 dates, custom weekends. NOW Returns the current date and time. 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QUOTIENT Returns the integer result of division. RADIANS Converts an angle into radians. RAND Calculates a random number between 0 and 1. RANDBETWEEN Calculates a random number between two numbers. ROUND Rounds a number to a specified number of digits. ROUNDDOWN Rounds a number down (towards zero). ROUNDUP Rounds a number up (away from zero). SIGN Returns the sign of a number. SIN Returns the sine of an angle. SQRT Calculates the square root of a number. SUBTOTAL Returns a summary statistic for a series of data. SUM Adds numbers together. SUMIF Sums numbers that meet a criteria. SUMIFS Sums numbers that meet multiple criteria. SUMPRODUCT Multiplies arrays of numbers and sums the resultant array. TAN Returns the tangent of an angle. TRUNC Truncates a number to a specific number of digits. Stats yes AVERAGE Averages numbers. AVERAGEA Averages numbers. Includes text & FALSE =0, TRUE =1. AVERAGEIF Averages numbers that meet a criteria. AVERAGEIFS Averages numbers that meet multiple criteria. CORREL Calculates the correlation of two series. COUNT Counts cells that contain a number. COUNTA Count cells that are non-blank. COUNTBLANK Counts cells that are blank. COUNTIF Counts cells that meet a criteria. COUNTIFS Counts cells that meet multiple criteria. FORECAST Predict future y-values from linear trend line. FREQUENCY Counts values that fall within specified ranges. GROWTH Calculates Y values based on exponential growth. INTERCEPT Calculates the Y intercept for a best-fit line. LARGE Returns the kth largest value. LINEST Returns statistics about a trendline. MAX Returns the largest number. MEDIAN Returns the median number. MIN Returns the smallest number. MODE Returns the most common number. PERCENTILE Returns the kth percentile. PERCENTILE.INC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is inclusive. PERCENTILE.EXC Returns the kth percentile. Where k is exclusive. QUARTILE Returns the specified quartile value. 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LEFT Truncates text a number of characters from the left. LEN Counts number of characters in text. LOWER Converts text to lower case. MID Extracts text from the middle of a cell. PROPER Converts text to proper case. REPLACE Replaces text based on it’s location. REPT Repeats text a number of times. RIGHT Truncates text a number of characters from the right. SEARCH Locates position of text within a cell.Not Case-sensitive. SUBSTITUTE Finds and replaces text. Case-sensitive. TEXT Converts a value into text with a specific number format. TRIM Removes all extra spaces from text. UPPER Converts text to upper case. VALUE Converts a number stored as text into a number.

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