By the end of this tutorial, you’ll use Lodash’s _.upperFirst() confidently in real JavaScript projects.
Call _.upperFirst(string).
Rest of the string unchanged.
Does not lowercase the tail.
Format titles and labels.
Sentence-style capitalization.
Returns a new string.
_.upperFirst()?_.upperFirst() uppercases only the first character of a string and leaves the rest unchanged. Unlike _.capitalize(), it does not lowercase the tail—handy for sentence-style headings and preserving intentional mixed case.
Think of _.upperFirst(title) as “sentence-case the first letter” without rewriting the rest of the string.
_.upperFirst([string=''])import upperFirst from "lodash/upperFirst";
const heading = upperFirst("welcome back");
// -> "Welcome back"| Task | Code pattern | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | _.upperFirst('hello') | Hello |
| Preserve tail | _.upperFirst('hELLO') | HELLO |
| Empty | _.upperFirst('') | '' |
| vs capitalize | _.capitalize() | Also lowercases rest |
| vs startCase | _.startCase() | Every word |
| Import | import upperFirst from 'lodash/upperFirst' | Per-method |
NoReturns new string
1st charRest unchanged
DifferentNo tail lower
lowerFirstInverse
stringOptionalInput string (default ''). Coerced to string.
return valueNew stringFirst character uppercased; remainder unchanged.
empty input''Returns empty string without error.
related_.capitalize()Also lowercases characters after the first.
Practical _.upperFirst() patterns with copy-ready code and interactive Try It Yourself labs.
Core patterns for _.upperFirst() with copy-ready code.
Turn hello, world! into Hello, world!.
const text = "hello, world!";
console.log(_.upperFirst(text));
// -> "Hello, world!"Run the Try It editor to experiment with _.upperFirst() on your own strings.
Only the first character changes—mixed case in the rest stays as-is.
const mixed = "hELLO, wORLD!";
console.log(_.upperFirst(mixed));
// -> "HELLO, wORLD!"Run the Try It editor to experiment with _.upperFirst() on your own strings.
Returns '' for an empty input.
console.log(_.upperFirst(""));
// -> ""Run the Try It editor to experiment with _.upperFirst() on your own strings.
Real-world formatting and data-handling scenarios.
Capitalize user or CMS titles for display.
const cmsTitle = "welcome to our website";
console.log(_.upperFirst(cmsTitle));capitalize() also lowercases the remainder of the string.
const s = "hELLO";
console.log("upperFirst:", _.upperFirst(s));
console.log("capitalize:", _.capitalize(s));Format form labels from snake_case keys.
const key = "date of birth";
console.log(_.upperFirst(key));_.upperFirst() WorksCoerce input to string.
Uppercase the character at index 0.
Concatenate unchanged remainder.
New string returned; original unchanged.
_.upperFirst() changes only the first character.''._.upperFirst() is the lightest touch for capitalization—one character, no tail rewriting. Reach for _.capitalize() or _.startCase() when you need stricter casing rules.
Rest unchanged
CoreNo tail lower
CompareSentence style
Use caseReturns ''
EdgeNext method
Nav_.upperFirst('hELLO') returns HELLO because only the first character changes—_.capitalize() would return Hello.
Open the Try It editor and run the examples with your own strings.
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