LEFT

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LEFT returns the first character or characters in a text string, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

LEFT ( text ,num_chars)

Text is the text string that contains the characters you want to extract.

Num_chars specifies the number of characters you want LEFT to extract.

  • Num_chars must be greater than or equal to zero.

  • If num_chars is greater than the length of text, LEFT returns all of text.

  • If num_chars is omitted, it is assumed to be 1.

Example

Col1

Formula

Description (Result)

Sale Price

=LEFT([Col1],4)

First four characters in the string (Sale)

Sweden

=LEFT([Col1])

First character in the string (S)