HTMLElement: autocapitalize property

The autocapitalize property of the HTMLElement interface represents the element's capitalization behavior for user input. It is available on all HTML elements, though it doesn't affect all of them, including:

autocapitalize doesn't affect behavior when typing on a physical keyboard. It affects the behavior of other input mechanisms such as virtual keyboards on mobile devices and voice input. This can assist users by making data entry quicker and easier, for example by automatically capitalizing the first letter of each sentence.

It reflects the value of the autocapitalize HTML global attribute.

Value

A string that represents the element's capitalization behavior for user input. Valid values are as follows:

none or off

No autocapitalization should be applied, that is, all letters should default to lowercase.

sentences or on

The first letter of each sentence should default to a capital letter; all other letters should default to lowercase.

words

The first letter of each word should default to a capital letter; all other letters should default to lowercase.

characters

All letters should default to uppercase.

Examples

The following example shows how to control capitalization behavior for user input via script:

html
<div>Current capitalization behavior is: <span id="ac-label"></span></div>
<div id="ac-element" contenteditable="true" autocapitalize="default">
  input here
</div>
<select id="ac-controller" type="checkbox" checked>
  <option value="default">default</option>
  <option value="none">none</option>
  <option value="sentences">sentences</option>
  <option value="words">words</option>
  <option value="characters">characters</option></select
>Select the capitalization behavior
js
const label = document.getElementById("ac-label");
const element = document.getElementById("ac-element");
const controller = document.getElementById("ac-controller");

controller.addEventListener("input", (e) => {
  const behavior = e.target.value;
  label.textContent = behavior;
  element.autocapitalize = behavior;
});

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# dom-autocapitalize-dev

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also