By the end of this tutorial, you’ll use Lodash’s _.startCase() confidently in real JavaScript projects.
_.startCase(string)
Capitalize each word
Keys to headings
Underscore boundaries
One word vs all words
Acronym caveats
_.startCase()?_.startCase() transforms strings into Start Case—each word capitalized and separated by spaces. It turns machine-friendly keys like product_description into readable labels like Product Description.
Use _.startCase('hello world') for display text, not for variable names—use _.camelCase() for identifiers.
_.startCase([string=''])string — Input to transform (defaults to empty string).import startCase from "lodash/startCase";
const originalString = "hello world";
const formatted = startCase(originalString);
// -> "Hello World"| Task | Code pattern | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Plain phrase | _.startCase('hello world') | Hello World |
| snake_case | _.startCase('foo_bar') | Foo Bar |
| camelCase | _.startCase('fooBar') | Foo Bar |
| UI label | _.startCase(fieldKey) | Readable heading |
| vs capitalize | _.capitalize('hello world') | Hello world |
| Empty | _.startCase('') | '' |
NoNew string
spaceBetween words
all wordsFirst char only
anysnake, camel, spaces
string RequiredValue to convert. Handles mixed case and delimiter-separated words.
_.startCase('foo_bar')return value Start CaseSpace-separated title words.
-> 'Foo Bar'acronyms CaveatShort uppercase tokens may be lowercased incorrectly.
// usa -> Usaempty/null SafeMissing input yields empty or default handling.
_.startCase('')Practical _.startCase() patterns with sample output and interactive Try It Yourself labs.
Capitalize each word in a simple phrase.
Turn a lowercase greeting into title-style words.
const originalString = "hello world";
const formattedString = _.startCase(originalString);
console.log(formattedString);
// -> "Hello World"Each word gets an initial capital letter; remaining letters are lowercased.
Format keys and identifiers for display.
Convert database-style keys to human-readable labels.
const key = "first_name last-name";
const label = _.startCase(key);
console.log(label);
// -> "First Name Last Name"Underscores and hyphens become word breaks before title-casing.
Render a form label from a config key.
const fieldKey = "customer_firstname";
const label = _.startCase(fieldKey);
console.log(label);
// -> "Customer Firstname"Pair with i18n when you need translations; startCase is a quick English default.
See how acronyms are affected.
const text = "united states of america (usa)";
const formatted = _.startCase(text);
// -> "United States Of America (Usa)"Compare single-word vs per-word capitalization.
const s = "hello world";
console.log(_.capitalize(s)); // Hello world
console.log(_.startCase(s)); // Hello WorldEdge cases and defaults.
Provide a fallback when the source string is empty.
const emptyString = "";
const display = _.startCase(emptyString || "default");
// -> "Default" (when using || fallback before call)Validate input before formatting; lodash treats empty string as empty output.
| Topic | _.startCase | _.capitalize | _.camelCase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Every word | First char only | Identifier style |
| Separator | Spaces | Unchanged | None |
| Use case | Labels, titles | Sentence start | JS properties |
| snake in | Foo Bar | foo_bar unchanged* | fooBar |
_.startCase() WorksIdentify word boundaries from case changes and delimiters.
Lowercase all characters in each word first.
Uppercase the first character of each word.
Combine words with spaces into the final string.
lodash/startCase for bundle-friendly usage._.startCase() is a practical Lodash string helper. Use the patterns above in your projects and explore the next method in the series.
_.startCase() capitalizes the first letter of each word and lowercases the rest—perfect for turning customer_first_name into display text.
Open the Try It editor and run the examples from this tutorial.
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