Extract Text using LEFT

Pull the first characters from a code or label.

You will learn to

• Use LEFT with a character count

How it works

LEFT(text, num_chars) returns characters from the start of a string. =LEFT(A2,2) returns "NE" from "NE-2024-0815".

Combine LEFT with FIND when the length varies: =LEFT(A2,FIND(" ",A2)-1) returns everything before the first space, such as a first name.

=LEFT(A2,2)