Press Release Headline Capitalization, 3.97% Are in All Caps

By the PR Gun Research desk. Updated November 1, 2026.

Most press release headlines use Title Case, and very few use all capitals. In PR Gun's database, 75.6% of 129,938 press release headlines published January 1 to October 31, 2026 capitalized nearly every main word, and 6.7% used sentence case. 3.97% were written entirely in capital letters, rising to 5.79% on PR Newswire. Four wires had no all-caps headlines at all. 40.0% of headlines contained a number, and question marks appeared in 1.36%.

Part of PR Gun's press release data series. See also headline length and AP style for press releases.

How are press release headlines capitalized?

We sorted every 2026 headline by how it uses capitals. A headline counts as Title Case when at least 80% of its words of four or more letters start with a capital. It counts as sentence case when fewer than 30% do. All caps means the entire headline is in capitals. Short headlines with fewer than three long words aren't classed either way.

• In PR Gun's database, 75.6% of 129,938 press release headlines published January 1 to October 31, 2026 used Title Case.
• 6.7% used sentence case, with capitals only on the first word and proper nouns.
• 3.97% were written entirely in capitals, 5,165 headlines in all.
• 39.4% contained at least one word of three or more capitals, usually an acronym or stock ticker.

Title Case is close to universal on several wires. 94.6% of 11,396 ACCESS Newswire headlines used it, and none used sentence case. PR Newswire is more mixed. 67.7% of its 82,398 headlines used Title Case and 9.2% used sentence case.

What does AP style say about headline capitalization?

AP style treats news headlines and titles differently. In AP style headlines, only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized, which is sentence case, according to the AP style guides from Writing Explained and the University of Houston-Downtown's student paper. For titles of works, Wikipedia's summary of the AP Stylebook (2020 edition) says to capitalize the principal words, capitalize prepositions and conjunctions of four letters or more, lowercase the articles "a", "an" and "the", and always capitalize the first and last words.

Press releases mostly follow the title rule, not the news headline rule. In 2026, 75.6% of headlines used Title Case and only 6.7% used sentence case. Either is correct. Title Case is simply what most wires carry.

The common slip is the small words. In headlines that weren't all caps, we counted how often "and", "or", "the", "of", "for", "to", "in", "on", "with", "at", "by", "a" and "an" were capitalized. On most wires it was 5% to 8% of uses, and that count includes the first word, which should be capitalized. On EIN Presswire it was 12.0% and on 24-7 Press Release 10.8%, so capitalized small words like "Of" and "The" mid-headline are more common there.

Is "press release" capitalized?

In running text, no. "Press release" is a common noun, so it stays lowercase in a sentence like "we issued a press release today." In a Title Case headline, both words are capitalized because they're principal words. In a sentence case headline, only the first word of the headline is capitalized.

How many headlines are in all caps?

Few, and almost all on one wire. PR Newswire carried 4,771 of the 5,165 all-caps headlines in the 2026 window.

ACCESS Newswire, Newswire.com, PRLog and Send2Press had no all-caps headlines at all, and PRWeb had two in 5,684. That looks like an editorial rule on those services. Where nothing stops them, some senders type in capitals, and the headline reads like shouting.

What else do headlines contain?

Numbers are the most common device. 40.0% of headlines contained a digit, 5.6% a currency sign and 2.8% a percent sign. GlobeNewswire had the most numbers, with 53.3% of 6,085 headlines carrying a digit, many of them in market reports and litigation notices.

Exclamation marks are almost gone, at 0.35% of headlines. Question marks are rare too at 1.36%, but they cluster. 6.15% of ACCESS Newswire headlines and 4.26% of PRLog headlines asked a question. 9.0% of headlines used "announces" or "announce" near the start, a word that adds length and no news.

By type, numbers track the news. 85.1% of funding headlines had a digit, partly because our funding rule looks for amounts. Only 6.1% of executive appointment headlines did, and 89.6% of those used Title Case, the highest of any type.

What changed since the earlier study?

The first version of this page used an earlier sample of 134,126 headlines studied May 7 to August 15, 2026, with services reported by letter. On the largest service, 5.26% of headlines, 2,751 of them, were all caps. Across services, 24.7% to 39.6% contained a digit, 0.2% to 5.26% were fully uppercase, question marks appeared in 0.3% to 1.0% and exclamation marks in 0.1% to 0.4%.

The 2026 rerun found a similar all-caps rate on PR Newswire, 5.79% of 82,398, and 3.97% overall. Digits now range from 28.9% (24-7 Press Release) to 53.3% (GlobeNewswire), a wider spread. The rerun names eleven wires, while the earlier page reported only services with more than 2,000 releases, without names. Question marks changed most. The earlier top rate was 1.0%, and ACCESS Newswire now reaches 6.15%. The earlier "all-caps word" measure used a different definition, so we don't compare it.

How should you capitalize your headline?

• Use Title Case. It's what three in four press release headlines use. Capitalize the main words and keep "a", "an", "the" and short prepositions lowercase unless they come first or last.
• Never write the whole headline in capitals. Four wires published no all-caps headlines in 2026, and capitals read as shouting.
• Keep capitals for names and tickers. Write a ticker like ACME in capitals, and keep product names in normal case.
• Put a number in if you have one. Four in ten headlines do, and a number makes the claim specific.
• Skip the question and the exclamation mark. Almost nobody publishing at volume uses them.
• End the release with ###. Wikipedia notes that "-30-" was the traditional end mark in North America and "###" the modern equivalent.

By sender, a startup should make sure its product name doesn't push the headline into caps. A small business can follow the same Title Case rule as everyone else. An agency should pick one style guide for all clients so headlines look consistent. A public company should keep its ticker in capitals inside parentheses.

Related studies cover body length, duplicate headlines and press release statistics 2026. Headline patterns by type are in the funding, product launch, partnership, acquisition and executive appointment studies.

Frequently asked questions

What is AP style for press release headline capitalization?

AP style puts news headlines in sentence case, so only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized. Press releases mostly don't follow that. In PR Gun's 2026 data, 75.6% of headlines used Title Case and 6.7% used sentence case. For Title Case, AP's rules for titles say to capitalize principal words and prepositions or conjunctions of four or more letters, and lowercase "a", "an" and "the" unless they come first or last.

Is "press release" capitalized?

Not in a normal sentence. It's a common noun. It is capitalized in a Title Case headline, and at the start of a sentence.

Should a press release headline be in all caps?

No. Only 3.97% of 129,938 headlines in PR Gun's 2026 data were all caps, and four wires published none. Use Title Case.

What is the symbol at the end of a press release?

Usually "###". Wikipedia notes that "-30-" was the traditional end mark in North America and "###" is the more modern equivalent. Some countries use the word "ends".

Should a press release headline include a number?

If you have a real one, yes. 40.0% of headlines in PR Gun's 2026 data contained a digit. A number makes the news specific and easy to quote.