Cast your ntext to nvarchar(max) and do the upper and left operations. Sample below. SELECT UPPER ( LEFT ( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max)), 1 )) + LOWER ( SUBSTRING ( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max)), 2 , LEN( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max))))) FROM dbo.Template_Survey; Following should work for update. Update dbo.Template_Survey SET Comments = UPPER ( LEFT ( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max)), 1 )) + LOWER ( SUBSTRING ( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max)), 2 , LEN( cast (Comments as nvarchar(max)))));