LOWER()

Syntax. LOWER(text)

Definition. This function converts a string to lowercase.

Arguments

• text (required). The text you want to convert to lowercase

Background. The LOWER() function is the counterpart of the UPPER() function that converts a string to uppercase. All uppercase letters are converted to lowercase letters. All other characters are left unchanged.

You can also use this function to compare non–case-sensitive strings.

If you pass a numeric value in the text argument, this value is converted to unformatted text. If you refer to this text in numeric calculations, Excel converts the text back to a number value so that you can still use the result for other calculations.

If you want to compare text and are not concerned about the comparison being case-sensitive, you can convert the entire text to lowercase (see Figure 8-6). The formula

=LOWER("Letters")="letters"

as well as

=LOWER("LETTERS")="letters"

returns TRUE.

Figure 8-6. Text comparison independent of uppercase and lowercase, using the LOWER() function.

Here are some further examples:

• =LOWER("John Smith") results in john smith.

• =LOWER("Excel") results in excel.

• =LOWER("eXCEL") results in excel.

• =LOWER(TODAY()) returns 40450 on September 29, 2010.

See Also

PROPER(), UPPER()

Sample Files

Use the LOWER worksheet in the Text_Data.xls or Text_Data.xlsx sample file. The sample files are found in the Chapter08 folder. For more information about the sample files, see the section titled Using the Sample Files.