Don't capitalize names of directions like north, south, east, and west when used to refer to direction and location, but do capitalize these words when they appear in the names of places and regions.

Should east be capitalized in a sentence?

You should only capitalize “east” when you are referring to it as the proper noun, such as “in the East” or “in the Middle East”. If you are merely referring to a direction, such as “go east on I-90,” then you should keep east lowercase.

Is east and west capitalized?

MLA style follows The Chicago Manual of Style (8.47) for geographic terms. For example, we capitalize north, south, east, and west when the terms refer to regions or cultures: Customs in the East differ from those in the West. She moved from the East Coast to the West Coast.