Guides/Title Case in headlines

When to use Title Case in headlines

Title Case capitalizes the main words in a line. Sentence case capitalizes only the first word (and proper nouns). Neither is universally “correct” — house style decides.

Title Case vs sentence case

• Title Case: How to Split a Bill Evenly With Tip
• Sentence case: How to split a bill evenly with tip

Good fits for Title Case

• Magazine-style headlines and many blog H1s (US publishing tradition).
• Book titles, report cover titles, slide deck titles.
• Navigation labels and button text in some product UIs (keep short).
• Email subject lines when your brand wants a formal, “titled” look.

Prefer sentence case instead

• Body paragraphs and most help-center articles (easier to scan as normal prose).
• Error messages and conversational UI copy.
• Many news sites and modern product blogs that standardized on sentence case H1s.
• Anything longer than about one line — Title Case gets noisy.

Worked examples

1. Raw: “how to tip 15 vs 18 vs 20 percent”
   Title Case → How to Tip 15 vs 18 vs 20 Percent
   Sentence → How to tip 15 vs 18 vs 20 percent
2. UI: “save changes” → Title Save Changes (button) vs sentence in a paragraph.
3. Style guides disagree on small words (a, of, the). Pick one guide (AP, Chicago, or house) and stay consistent.

Common mistakes

• ALL CAPS headlines — hard to read; not the same as Title Case.
• Random capitals mid-sentence in body copy.
• Mixing Title Case H2s with sentence case H2s on the same page.

Convert instantly

Paste into the freeCase Converterand choose Title or Sentence. Deeper comparison:title case vs sentence case·camelCase vs PascalCase.