LEFT Function in Excel

The LEFT Function in Excel

 The LEFT function in Excel is a text function that extracts a specified number of characters from the beginning (left side) of a text string.

Left Function excel wala

Syntax

 =LEFT(text, [num_chars])

 Arguments

text: The text string you want to extract from (required)

[num_chars]: The number of characters to extract (optional, defaults to 1 if omitted)

 

Examples

 1. Basic usage:

         =LEFT("Microsoft", 5)  // Returns "Micro"

 2. Omitting num_chars (defaults to 1):

       =LEFT("Excel")  // Returns "E"

 3. Using cell reference:

       =LEFT(A1, 3)  // Returns first 3 characters from cell A1

  

 

 Common Uses

- Extracting area codes from phone numbers

- Getting initials from names

- Pulling product codes from longer identifiers

- Isolating the first word in a sentence

 

 Notes

- If num_chars exceeds the text length, LEFT returns the entire text

- LEFT always returns a text string, even when extracting numbers