You have to use the String method .toLowerCase() or .toUpperCase() on both the input and the string you are trying to match it with.  Example:  public static void findPatient() {     System.out.print("Enter part of the patient name: ");     String name = sc.nextLine();      System.out.print(myPatientList.showPatients(name)); }  //the other class ArrayList<String> patientList;  public void showPatients(String name) {     boolean match = false;      for(String matchingname : patientList) {         if (matchingname.toLowerCase().contains(name.toLowerCase())) {             match = true;         }     } }

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