International Caps Lock Day
October 22
About International Caps Lock Day
International Caps Lock Day is observed on 22 October each year, with a secondary date on 28 June, giving keyboard enthusiasts and internet users two chances to celebrate this tongue-in-cheek holiday. Created in 2000 by software developer Derek Arnold, the day encourages people to type ENTIRELY IN CAPITAL LETTERS and reflects humorously on our digital communication habits.
How to Celebrate International Caps Lock Day
There are plenty of ways to join in the fun on International Caps Lock Day, whether you are a seasoned keyboard warrior or a casual typer:
- Type everything in caps – Spend the day composing messages, emails, or social media posts entirely in uppercase letters. Go all in and commit to the bit from morning to night.
- Post a caps lock tribute on social media – Share your most dramatic all-caps proclamations on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), or Facebook using the hashtag #CapsLockDay. The louder, the better.
- Send a caps lock email to a colleague – Pick a colleague who will appreciate the joke and send them a completely normal email about something mundane, written entirely in capitals. Watch the confusion unfold.
- Learn the history of the Caps Lock key – Take a moment to look up how the Caps Lock key came to be, tracing its lineage from the typewriter-era Shift Lock key through to the modern keyboard.
- Host an all-caps trivia night – Run a quiz where all answers must be shouted or written in uppercase. Award bonus points for the most enthusiastic responses.
- Make a retro typewriter-style sign – Print a message in all capitals and large block letters and hang it somewhere visible, channelling the spirit of the typewriter age.
- Challenge friends and family – Dare your nearest and dearest to go the whole day speaking in a LOUD VOICE to match the energy of their caps lock messages.
- Read up on internet etiquette – Use the day as a jumping-off point to explore the history of netiquette and why typing in all caps came to be associated with shouting online.
What is International Caps Lock Day?
International Caps Lock Day is a lighthearted, unofficial holiday that pokes fun at the overuse of capital letters in digital communication. It exists to remind internet users that typing in all caps is widely interpreted as shouting, while simultaneously celebrating the absurdity of that convention. The day is observed twice annually: on 22 October and on 28 June. Both dates were established by its creator, Derek Arnold, with the October date being the original and the June date added later as a tribute to the late infomercial presenter Billy Mays.
While the day is entirely tongue-in-cheek, it also quietly highlights something meaningful: the vast majority of the world’s writing systems have no concept of upper and lower case at all. As Arnold himself noted when founding the day, the very idea of “shouting” through capitalisation is a quirk specific to certain Western typographic traditions.
If you enjoy playful celebrations of internet culture, you might also appreciate World Emoji Day, another occasion that highlights the quirky ways humans communicate digitally.
When is International Caps Lock Day?
International Caps Lock Day falls on Thursday, 22 October 2026. A secondary observance also takes place on 28 June each year. Both dates are fixed and do not change year to year.
The History of International Caps Lock Day
The story of International Caps Lock Day begins in 2000, when Derek Arnold, a software developer based in Iowa, decided the internet needed a day dedicated to embracing the very typing habit most style guides warned against. Arnold chose 22 October as the original date and launched the holiday as a playful commentary on how caps lock was being misused across the early internet. His founding statement was deliberately satirical, describing the day as “a testament to the small-mindedness of certain Western individuals,” given that most of the world’s writing systems have no concept of letter casing whatsoever.
The second observance date, 28 June, was added years later in honour of Billy Mays, the boisterous American infomercial presenter who was famous for delivering his pitches at full vocal volume. Mays became so associated with shouting that the Caps Lock key was sometimes called “the Billy Mays key” in online circles. When Mays passed away on 28 June 2009, Arnold added that date to the Caps Lock Day calendar as a fitting tribute to a man who truly embodied the spirit of all-caps communication.
The holiday has since grown into a widely recognised, if informal, fixture of the internet calendar. It is celebrated by individuals, tech companies, and social media communities around the world, who mark the occasion with a flood of dramatically capitalised posts, memes, and messages. For a day built on a single keyboard key, its cultural reach has been surprisingly broad.
Fun Facts About International Caps Lock Day
- The Caps Lock key evolved from the Shift Lock key found on typewriters, which physically locked the carriage into an uppercase position and required manual release.
- Most modern keyboards place the Caps Lock key directly to the left of the letter A, making it one of the most prominent — and accidentally-pressed — keys on the entire board.
- Many programmers and power users remap the Caps Lock key to perform a more useful function, such as acting as a second Ctrl or Escape key, effectively removing its original purpose.
- The convention that typing in ALL CAPS means shouting online dates back to the early days of bulletin board systems and Usenet in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Derek Arnold, the creator of International Caps Lock Day, was inspired partly by frustration at the prevalence of all-caps posts on early internet forums.
- The official Caps Lock Day website, capslockday.com, is written entirely in lowercase, which is either deeply ironic or entirely intentional depending on your perspective.
Why International Caps Lock Day Matters
On the surface, International Caps Lock Day is simply an excuse to have fun with your keyboard for 24 hours. But underneath the humour, it touches on something genuinely interesting: the way online communication has developed its own grammar, conventions, and cultural codes. The fact that a single keyboard key can carry emotional weight, signifying urgency, anger, or emphasis depending on context, says a great deal about how written digital communication has evolved. The day gives everyone a chance to step back, laugh at those conventions, and perhaps use their keyboard a little more thoughtfully going forward. You might also enjoy Comic Sans Day, which similarly celebrates a much-maligned typographic choice with good humour.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is International Caps Lock Day?
International Caps Lock Day is an unofficial annual holiday observed on 22 October and 28 June, celebrating the Caps Lock key and poking fun at the habit of typing in all capitals online. It was created in 2000 by Iowa-based software developer Derek Arnold.
When is International Caps Lock Day in 2026?
International Caps Lock Day falls on Thursday, 22 October 2026. A secondary date also falls on Sunday, 28 June 2026.
Who created International Caps Lock Day?
The day was created by Derek Arnold, a software developer from Iowa, in the year 2000. He established the October 22 date as the primary observance and later added 28 June as a tribute to infomercial presenter Billy Mays, who died on that date in 2009.
Spread the Word
Join the celebration and share your best all-caps messages on social media with #CapsLockDay and #CapsLockDay2026. Challenge your friends, colleagues, and followers to communicate exclusively in uppercase for the day. The louder the better!
Related Awareness Days
- World Emoji Day – Celebrated on 17 July, this global day honours the emoji and the colourful role it plays in digital communication worldwide.
- Comic Sans Day – Observed on 3 July, this day celebrates the internet’s most divisive font with affection, irony, and a great deal of humour.
- National Ballpoint Pen Day – Marked on 10 June, this day honours the humble ballpoint pen and the history of writing technology.
Links
- Visit the official International Caps Lock Day website
- Explore more awareness days at AwarenessDays.com
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