Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Capitalizing the Word "I".

Capitalizing the Word "I"

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 8, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


1

William frequently uses Word's command to change case, but he notes that the behavior of the command is (at times) odd. He often wants to end up with "sentence case," with the first letter of the first word of the sentence capitalized and all other letters lowercase. But Word also leaves the word "I" in lower case, when, of course, it should always be capitalized. Therefore, William has to go back through the text and manually capitalize each lowercase "i." He wonders if there is a way around this problem.

The solution, as many people think, isn't in Word's AutoCorrect feature. By default, AutoCorrect includes an option that automatically replaces any lowercase, single-word instances of the letter i with I, as you type.

This isn't an "as you type" situation, however. If you select a sentence and use F3 to cycle through your capitalization options, you end up—before getting to Sentence Case capitalization—going through Lowercase capitalization, which lowercases all the letters including the pronoun "I". When you then choose Sentence Case capitalization, the pronoun remains as lowercase, unless it is the first word in the sentence. This behavior is exhibited regardless of how you have AutoCorrect configured.

The only solution that we've been able to come up with is to us Word's Find and Replace capabilities in a macro to replace all instances of a single-word lowercase i with an uppercase I.

Sub iBecomesI()
    Selection.WholeStory
    Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
    Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
    With Selection.Find
        .Text = "i"
        .Replacement.Text = "I"
        .Forward = True
        .Wrap = wdFindAsk
        .Format = False
        .MatchCase = True
        .MatchWholeWord = True
        .MatchWildcards = False
        .MatchSoundsLike = False
        .MatchAllWordForms = False
    End With
    Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

The macro can, if desired, be associated with a keyboard shortcut of your choosing so you can use it with your selected sentences rather easily.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7913) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Capitalizing the Word "I".

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Workaround for Multiple Rows of Worksheet Tabs

If you've got a lot of worksheets in your workbook, you may want to display their tabs in to rows at the bottom of the ...

Discover More

Mysterious Boxes around Paragraphs

Do you have some mysterious and unwanted boxes showing up around the paragraphs in your document? Here are some ideas on ...

Discover More

Adjusting Text Pitch

Want to adjust the pitch of your text? The answer depends on what, exactly, is meant by "pitch." This tip looks at the ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Understanding Smart Cut and Paste

Editing is generally made easier by a feature that Word calls smart cut and paste. If you prefer, you can turn the ...

Discover More

Font Changes when Pasting to Another Document

When you copy information from one document and paste it into another, you may not always get what you expect. If the ...

Discover More

Highlighting Duplicate Words

One way to help improve your writing is to minimize the number of duplicated words you use in your prose. Depending on ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is eight more than 3?

2019-09-30 11:24:41

Malcolm Patterson

Note that doing a spell check will flag each instance of a lowercase _I_ and suggest making it uppercase. For those who deal with paragraph numbering systems that include lowercase roman numerals, that gives you a chance to decline the "correction."


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.