How To Use LEFT function in Excel Explained

LEFT function in Excel extracts a certain number of characters from the beginning of a text string. The syntax for the LEFT function is: =LEFT(text, [num_chars]) where text is the text string from which you want to extract characters, and [num_chars] is the number of characters you want to extract.

The LEFT function in Microsoft Excel allows users to extract a substring (or a specific number of characters) from the beginning of a string of text. This is useful for situations where you need to extract certain information from a longer string of text.

For example, you can use the LEFT formula to extract the first name from a full name, or the first 3 characters from an SKU. This function is also useful for cleaning up data by removing unwanted characters from the beginning of a string. It requires two arguments, the string of text and the number of characters you want to extract. It returns the extracted characters as a string.

1. Open your Excel spreadsheet and select the cell or cells you would like to use the function in.
2. Type “=LEFT(” into the formula bar at the top of the spreadsheet.
3. Select the cell containing the text you want to extract from.
4. Type a comma into the formula bar after the cell reference.
5. Input the number of characters you want to extract from the text in the cell.
6. Type a closing parenthesis “)” into the formula bar to complete the formula and press enter.
7. The cell should now contain the text extracted from the original cell.