Capitalization After a Colon in Headings
Capitalization After a Colon in Headings records Microsoft’s explicit sentence-style heading exception for the first word after a colon.
In Microsoft-style headings, capitalize the first word after a colon even though the heading otherwise follows sentence-style capitalization.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This is Microsoft heading style; other style guides can use different capitalization rules after colons.
Further guidance
Content
In a Microsoft-style title or heading with a colon, capitalize the first word after the colon while otherwise following sentence-style capitalization.
Practical Application
When following Microsoft-style sentence-case headings, capitalize the first word after a colon while keeping other ordinary words lowercase unless they independently require capitals. Treat this as a house-style rule, not a universal English rule.
Purpose
Preserve the house style’s heading boundary after a colon.
Reader Check
After the colon, is the first word capitalized, and are any later capitals justified by proper names, acronyms, or another explicit rule?
Worked Example
Microsoft-style: “Deployment options: Choose a configuration.” A different publisher may specify another treatment, so do not normalize across styles without checking.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Capitalization — Microsoft Style Guide (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Microsoft technical-style guidance for sentence-style headings, acronym expansion capitalization and capitalization after colons