Associated Press
title-case rules
For newsrooms and journalism.
The AP rules
The Associated Press Stylebook is the de facto standard for newsrooms, press releases, and most professional journalism.
- Capitalize the first word of the headline, regardless of what it is.
- Capitalize the last word of the headline.
- Capitalize all "principal" words — nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns.
- Lowercase articles — a, an, the.
- Lowercase coordinating conjunctions — and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so.
- Lowercase prepositions of three letters or fewer — at, by, in, of, on, to, up.
- Capitalize prepositions of four or more letters — Over, With, From, About.
- Capitalize after a colon if a complete clause follows.
- Capitalize both parts of hyphenated compounds.
Worked examples
The same set of titles, converted under Associated Press rules. Try them yourself by switching the style pill on the homepage.
| Input | AP |
|---|---|
the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog |
The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog |
on writing well: a guide for non-fiction |
On Writing Well: A Guide for Non-Fiction |
a tale of two cities |
A Tale of Two Cities |
the new iphone is incredible |
The New iPhone Is Incredible |
Edge cases we handle
- Proper nouns — iPhone, JavaScript, NASA stay capitalized correctly mid-title.
- Hyphenated compounds — handled per AP's specific rule.
- After a colon — the first word after a colon is capitalized.
- Acronyms and ALLCAPS runs — preserved as-is.
Try AP title case now.
Open the converter →Frequently asked questions
What are the rules for AP Style capitalization?
Capitalize the first and last word, plus all principal words (nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, pronouns). Lowercase articles, coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions of three letters or fewer — longer prepositions get capitalized.
How does AP Style handle short prepositions in titles?
Prepositions of three letters or fewer (at, by, in, of, on, to, up) stay lowercase mid-title. Four-letter-or-longer prepositions (Over, With, From, About) are capitalized — a stricter cutoff than Chicago or Bluebook's four-letter rule.
Source
This page summarizes public guidance from the Associated Press Stylebook. For the complete, authoritative rules, consult the official source directly:
- AP Stylebook Online — the official, subscription-based reference published by the Associated Press
Want to compare with another style? See the style guides index.