Proper Case

Location on ribbon: Tab DVD Addin → Group Text and Number → Menu Case

Command ID: btnProperCase

What it does

Capitalizes the first letter of each word and lowercases the rest (Title Case) — like Excel's PROPER function, but applied directly to the cells so no helper column is needed. Unlike PROPER, it keeps units, marks and abbreviations intact.

This is the right style for people's names, company names and short item titles in a manpower allocation sheet, an engineering staff list or a subcontractor tracker, where entries are usually typed with mixed capitalization.

How to use

1. Select the cells you want normalized.
2. Go to tab DVD Addin → group Text and Number → open the Case menu → click Proper Case.
3. The Confirm data change box appears before anything is overwritten; keep Back up sheet ticked and click Continue.
4. The Excel status bar reports "Changed N/M cells". If nothing changed, a message box explains why.

Video tutorial

Narrated in Vietnamese, with Vietnamese subtitles. Đổi chữ hoa thường · 5 min 21 s · 12 cases · Download the video · Practice workbook for the video

Commands in this video: Sentence case · Proper Case · SMART case (AI) · UPPERCASE · lowercase

Chapters (17)

1. Giới thiệu
2. Mở lệnh
3. Năm kiểu chữ
4. 1 · Hoa đầu câu
5. 2 · HOA TOÀN BỘ
6. 3 · thường toàn bộ
7. 4 · Hoa Đầu Mỗi Từ
8. 5 · Chữ viết tắt, ô toàn chữ HOA
9. 6 · Ô nhiều dòng
10. 7 · Chọn cả bảng: số, công thức
11. 8 · Danh sách đang lọc
12. 9 · Hoa theo ngữ cảnh (AI)
13. 10 · Khi AI báo lỗi
14. 11 · Ghi đè và hoàn tác
15. 12 · Khi không ô nào đổi
16. Mẹo
17. Kết thúc

Illustrated walkthrough

Practice

Download this command's sample workbook — the data matches the pictures below (sheet Manpower), so you can follow each step right away.

Step 1. Select the column to normalize, for example the name / company column of a site manpower list typed in mixed case (1).

Step 2. On the ribbon, open the DVD Addin tab → Text and Number group → open Case → choose Proper Case.

Step 3. The add-in asks before overwriting. Keep the sheet backup ticked (1) so that Ctrl+Z right after the command puts the sheet back, then click Continue (2).

Step 4. Every word gets an initial capital and the rest in lower case; abbreviations and codes (JSC, QA, QC, C1) are kept as typed (1). The status bar reports how many cells changed (2).

Example

The name column of a site manpower timesheet:

Before	After
nguyen van an	Nguyen Van An
TRAN THI BINH	Tran Thi Binh
le Hoang nam	Le Hoang Nam
HOANG LONG CONSTRUCTION JSC	Hoang Long Construction JSC
HDPE pipe crew, zone C1	HDPE Pipe Crew, Zone C1

Notes

• The command keeps the following exactly as typed:
  • units of measure: MPa, kN, kg, mm, m2, m3…;
  • marks that mix letters and digits: C1, D12, P66, M250…;
  • common abbreviations: TCVN, QCVN, UBND, BTCT, HDPE…;
  • in a cell that also contains lowercase text, every ALL-CAPS word of 2 or more letters (treated as an abbreviation). In a cell typed entirely in capitals, only the common abbreviations above are kept.
• So a name typed in capitals inside lowercase text (for example le hoang NAM) also stays NAM. An abbreviation typed in lowercase (for example jsc) cannot be recognized and becomes Jsc — fix it by hand or use SMART case (AI).
• Formula cells are preserved — they are never overwritten with their values.
• Hold ESC while it runs to stop early; areas already written stay written.
• The selection is clamped to the UsedRange so whole-column selections are still fast, and empty cells are skipped.
• Content is overwritten in place. Ctrl+Z right after the command puts the sheet back as it was (thanks to the backup); see Restore data.

Related

• SMART case (AI) — lets AI pick the capitalization that fits the context when fixed rules are not enough.
• Sentence case — better suited to full sentences than to names.
• UPPERCASE — for table titles and top-level item names.
• lowercase — the flattening step before re-normalizing.