Text function
UPPER
Make it all capitals.
Purpose
Force a value into capitals
Returns
The same text, every letter a capital
Syntax
=UPPER(text)
| Argument | Required | What goes here |
|---|---|---|
text | Required | The cell to put into capitals. |
How to use UPPER
UPPER capitalises every letter and leaves digits and punctuation alone.
On a ledger its real use is normalising a code column so two spellings of the same thing stop being two things.
It is not needed for comparisons. Excel already treats "y" and "Y" as equal, so a COUNTIF does not need UPPER around it.
Examples
Every result below is worked out by the same evaluator that marks your answers, on the sheet shown here.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reference | Supplier name | Amount | Posted |
| 2 | GL-6100-8801 | brightwell paper | 1500 | Y |
| 3 | GL-6200-8802 | calder UTILITIES | 320 | y |
| 4 | GL-6100-8803 | meridian freight ltd | 2750 | |
| 5 | GL-6300-8804 | ashgrove catering | 184 | Y |
| 6 | GL-6200-8805 | THORNBURY print | 760 | |
| 7 | GL-6100-8806 | Brightwell Paper | 1120 | Y |
| Formula | Result |
|---|---|
=UPPER(B2)The whole supplier name in capitals, padding and all. | ··BRIGHTWELL PAPER·· |
=UPPER(TRIM(B2))Trim first. UPPER does nothing about the spaces. | BRIGHTWELL PAPER |
=UPPER(D3)Normalising a flag column, so the lower case y in row 3 stops looking like a different answer from the Y in row 2. | Y |
Notes
- For a name that a person will read, PROPER is almost always what you want instead.