How to use the UPPER function

Author: Oscar Cronquist Article last updated on February 24, 2022

Converts a value to upper case letters.

Formula in cell C3:

=UPPER(B3)

1. UPPER Function Syntax

UPPER(text)

2. UPPER Function Arguments

text

Value to convert. Required.

3. UPPER Function not working

Check your spelling.
Check the number of arguments you use, the UPPER function accepts only one argument.

4. How to change lower letter to upper letter for the position of a given character

UPPER function given character

The image above demonstrates a formula that replaces the third letter with an upper case letter.

Formula in cell C3:

=REPLACE(B3, 3, 1, UPPER(MID(B3, 3, 1)))

4.1 Explaining formula

Step 1 - Extract letter based on position

The MID function returns a substring from a string based on the starting position and the number of characters you want to extract.

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

MID(B3, 3, 1)

becomes

MID("oranges", 3, 1)

and returns "a".

Step 2 - Convert to upper letter

The UPPER function converts a string to capital letters.

UPPER(MID(B3, 3, 1))

becomes

UPPER("a")

and returns "A".

Step 3 - Replace character based on position to an upper letter

The REPLACE function substitutes a string based on character position and length.

REPLACE(old_text, start_num, num_chars, new_text)

REPLACE(B3, 3, 1, UPPER(MID(B3, 3, 1)))

becomes

REPLACE(B3, 3, 1, "A")

becomes

REPLACE("oranges", 3, 1, "A")

and returns "orAnges".

5. How to change a given lower letter to an upper letter

UPPER function given character2

The formula in cell C3 demonstrated in the image above converts the second lower case "p" from the right with an upper case "P".

Formula in cell C3:

=SUBSTITUTE(B3, "p", "P", 2)

5.1 Explaining formula

The SUBSTITUTE function substitutes a string with another string.

SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])

SUBSTITUTE(B3, "p", "P", 2)

The first argument is a cell reference to cell B3, the second argument is the string to be replaced.

The third argument is what will be there after the substitution and the fourth argument is a number representing the instance.

6. How to change all lower letters to upper letters for a given character

UPPER function given character1

The picture above shows a formula in cell C3 that converts all lower case "p" to an upper case "P" in cell B3.

Formula in cell C3:

=SUBSTITUTE(B3, "p", "P")

The SUBSTITUTE function substitutes a string with another string.

SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, [instance_num])

If the instance_num argument is omitted all instances are replaced.

'UPPER' Function examples

The following 3 articles have formulas containing the UPPER function.

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Functions in 'Text' category

The UPPER function function is one of many functions in the 'Text' category.

ASC function

Converts full-width (double-byte) characters to half-width (single-byte) characters.

CHAR function

Converts a number to the corresponding ANSI character determined by your computers character set.

CLEAN function

Deletes the first 32 nonprinting characters in 7-bit ASCII code in your argument.

CODE function

Returns the corresponding number for the first character based on your computers character set. (PC- ANSI)

CONCAT function

Concatenates values from multiple cells.

CONCATENATE function

Joins text strings.

EXACT function

Checks if two values are precisely the same, it returns TRUE or FALSE. The EXACT function also considers upper case and lower case letters.

FIND function

Returns the position of a specific string in another string, reading left to right. Note, the FIND function is case-sensitive.

LEFT function

Extracts a specific number of characters always starting from the left.

LEN function

Returns the number of characters in a cell value.

LOWER function

Converts a value to lower case letters.

MID function

Returns a substring from a string based on the starting position and the number of characters you want to extract.

REPT function

Repeats a specific text a chosen number of times.

RIGHT function

Extracts a specific number of characters always starting from the right.

SEARCH function

Returns the number of the character at which a specific character or text string is found reading left to right (not case-sensitive)

SUBSTITUTE function

Replaces a specific text string in a value. Case sensitive.

T function

Returns a text value if the argument is a text value.

TEXT function

Converts a value to text in a specific number format.

TEXTAFTER function

Extracts a string after a specific substring in a given value.

TEXTBEFORE function

Extracts a string before a specific substring from a given value.

TEXTJOIN function

Combine text strings from multiple cell ranges.

TEXTSPLIT function

Splits a string into an array based on delimiting values.

TRIM function

Deletes all blanks or space characters except single blanks between words in a cell value.

UNICHAR function

Calculates a character based on a Unicode number.

UNICODE function

Returns a Unicode number based on a character.

UPPER function

Converts a value to upper case letters.

VALUE function

Converts a text string that represents a number to a number.

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