What UPPER does
UPPER converts every lowercase letter in a text string to uppercase. It is useful when you want a consistent casing standard for labels, IDs, or lookup values.
Practical examples
Convert a value to uppercase
=UPPER(A2)
Use this when you want to normalize mixed-case values before comparing them.
Standardize both sides of a comparison
=EXACT(UPPER(A2),UPPER(B2))
This compares two values after converting both to uppercase first.
Common mistakes and notes
UPPER changes letters only
Numbers, punctuation, and spaces remain unchanged.
Case normalization does not remove hidden characters
If a match still fails after using UPPER, check for spacing or invisible-character issues with functions like TRIM or CLEAN.