How to stop the iPhone capitalising the first letter

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

howtosimply.com/guides/how-to-stop-the-iphone-capitalising-the-first-letter/ · Checked October 2026 · iPhone 17e · iOS 27.0.1

4 of 4 steps with real screenshots · 1 official source below

Device

iPhone

Shown on

iOS 27.0.1 (iPhone 17e)

App

Settings

Path

Settings › General › Keyboard

Real screenshots

4 of 4 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Open Settings and tap General

   General is the first row of the group below Battery, after Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

   Done

2. 

   Tap Keyboard

   It is just below Fonts, in the group that starts with AutoFill & Passwords.

   Done

3. 

   Switch off Auto-Capitalisation

   It is the first switch under the heading All Keyboards. With the iPhone set to UK English it is spelt Auto-Capitalisation, in US English Auto-Capitalization. On our iPhone 17e every switch under All Keyboards was on.

   Done

4. 

   Check it while typing

   Start a new sentence. With Auto-Capitalisation off, ours kept hello in small letters at the start of a note.

   Done

What changed: the screenshots are now our own iPhone 17e on iOS 27.0.1, dark mode, and the wording is checked against those screens.

If you do not see this option

• Change it from the keyboard. While typing, touch and hold the emoji or globe key and tap Keyboard Settings. On our iPhone 17e the menu listed Keyboard Settings, English (US) and Emoji. Source: Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPhone
• Search for it. Open Settings, tap the search field at the bottom and type Capital. Apple notes that the sections in Settings depend on the iPhone model. Source: Find settings on iPhone

If this does not work

• Some words still get a capital. Check Text Replacement on the Keyboards page: an entry there puts in its phrase exactly as written, capitals included. Source: Save keystrokes with text replacements on iPhone
• Words still change as you type. Auto-Correction, the switch below, can still change words. Switch it off too if you want the keyboard to leave your text alone. Source: Use Auto-Correction and predictive text on your iPhone

About this guide

With Auto-Capitalization on, the iPhone keyboard chooses capital letters by itself. For passwords, usernames, code or a deliberate all-lowercase style that gets in the way. The switch for it is the first one under All Keyboards.

The screenshots are our own, taken on an iPhone 17e running iOS 27.0.1, in dark mode.

Good to know

For a single capital letter, tap Shift once. For several, double-tap Shift to turn on Caps Lock: how to turn on Caps Lock on an iPhone.

In short: Settings, General, Keyboard, Auto-Capitalization off.