LEFT Function in Excel

By


In this blog post we will learn about LEFT function in excel. With the help of this function we can extract number of characters from the beginning of the text string.

Where to find LEFT function on Excel Screen:

LEFT function can be found under “Text Function” category under “Formula Tab” as shown in below image:



Once we click on “Text” category, we can see list of various Text Functions available in excel. LEFT function is highlighted in red in below image.


Once we click on LEFT option as highlighted above, we will get the function argument dialog box as shown in below image:




Syntax of LEFT Function:

The Syntax of LEFT function is as below:

=LEFT(text,[num_chars])



Arguments of LEFT Function:

To use the LEFT function we have to use 02 arguments:

Text: This is mandatory argument. We have to select the text from which we have to extract the number of characters from the beginning of the text string.

Num_chars: In this argument, we have to specify the number of characters which we want to extract from beginning of selected text string.

Example of LEFT Function:

Let’s learn about this function with the help of simple example. We have listed Employee ID in column A as shown in below image.


Now, we want to extract first 4 characters from each Employee ID. To do this we can use LEFT function.

For this, select the cell in which we want to extract first 04 characters. In this case we have selected cell “B2”. In cell B2 enter formula as shown in below image.


Once we hit enter button, we can see that first 4 characters are now extracted in cell “B2”.


We have to just copy and paste this formula in below cells to get desired result.


In this way, we can use LEFT function in excel.
Microsoft Certified Excel Expert, Enthusiastic to teach excel tricks and basic excel concepts which will help to save time and efforts in our daily office work.

Comments

Post a Comment

Related Topics..

Fill Up, Down, Right & Left in Excel

By
Image
Excel has many great tricks which can help us to save our time while working on big data. In this blog post we are going to see one of those tricks where we can fill the data to the upwards of the selected cells, to the downwards of the selected cells, to the right of the selected cells and to the left of the selected cells. There are many situations where we may need to copy the data from selected cell to the upward, downward, left and right cells. But how can we do so?? In excel we can do so with the help of “Fill” command. This command we can found in: Home Tab --> Editing Group --> Fill Command. Let’s take an example. We have inserted a text “Tejraj” in a cell “D5”. Now we will see how to fill this text from cell D5 to Up, Down, Right & Left. Fill Down: 1. Let’s assume that we have to fill the data from cells D5 to D10. For this, select the Cell Range D5:D10. Keep in mind that the data from 1st cell of the selected Cell Range will fill down in entire selection. 2. Select ...
Read more

Excel Shortcuts Ctrl A to Ctrl Z

By
Image
Use of keyboard shortcuts while working in excel will be a great help for us. It will save a lot of time. In this post we are going to see Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for alphabets A to Z while using Ctrl key. Below table will give you a brief idea for each shortcut and its functionality: Now, we will see in detail how each of above listed shortcut combinations will work: Ctrl + A :  It will select all content present on the worksheet. If active cell is in the table then it will select entire table. Ctrl + B :  It will convert selected text into Bold . Ctrl + C : It will copy the selected content. The content which is copied can be seen in the Clipboard. Ctrl + D :  It will fill down the content from upper cell. For example we have inserted a number “1” in the cell A1. If we select the cell range from A1:A5 and press Ctrl + D, then this number “1” will automatically fill down in the entire cell range . ...
Read more

Select all cells highlighted with specific color at a time

By
Image
Many times we apply colors to cells in excel sheet which will help us to identify important cells just by looking at the data. But what if we use multiple colors to highlight data and later on want to select all the cells which are highlighted with specific color only???  YouTube Video: For example, we have listed some values in excel sheet and highlighted few cells with red color and few cells with yellow color. Now, we want to select all cells which are highlighted with only yellow color at a time. But how????  Don't worry... We will provide you a fantastic solution for this!! Follow below steps:  1. Select entire data. 2. Press Ctrl + F. "Find and Replace" window will appear. 3. Click on Options button. 4. "Find and Replace" window will expand with some additional options. Click on Format button. 5. "Find Format" window will appear. Click on Fill tab and select yellow color. You will s...
Read more

How to Remove Duplicate Entries from Multiple Columns in Excel

By
Image
In our last blog post, we have learned to remove duplicates entries in excel . In this blog post, we will go little advanced to remove the duplicate entries from multiple columns. Removing Duplicates Entries from 02 Columns: We will learn to remove duplicate entries from the data as shown in below image. The entries which are duplicate in both the “Fruits” column and “Price/Kg” column are highlighted with different colors. To remove duplicate entries in these 02 columns, follow the steps provided below: 1. Select the data from which we want to remove the duplicates. 2. Go to “Data” tab and under “Data Tools” we can find command named as “Remove Duplicates” as highlighted in below image. 3. Once we click on “Remove Duplicate” command, one dialog box with same name “Remove Duplicate” will appear on our excel screen. 4. If we check the checkbox for “My Data has headers” then the header row from our selection will be excluded automatically and under “Columns” section we will see the name o...
Read more

Excel Pivot Table

By
Image
Pivot Table in excel is a very powerful feature which helps us to to organize and summarize the data in very effective manner, that too without using any complex excel formula or functions. In this blog post we will see how to create Pivot Table in Excel. Below is the dummy sales data for last three years (2018, 2019 & 2020). In this sales data employees A, B, C & D sales various electronic components like Resistor, Capacitor, Inductor, Diodes & LED in all South, East, North & West region of India. Creating Pivot Table: Now we will see how to create Pivot Table in Excel. Pivot Table feature is available in Insert Tab. Pivot Table command is available in "Insert Tab" under "Tables Group" as shown in below image. Once you click on Pivot Table command, “Create Pivot Table” dialog box will appear on screen. This is like as shown in below image. This “Create Pivot Table” dialog box is very important to create Pivot Table. There are two important options a...
Read more

Exploring Font Colors and Fill Colors in Excel

By
Image
Many times we use colors in our excel files to make our work attractive. We can apply colors to the texts as well as to the cells.  If we want to change the color of text available in cells then we use the various color options available from “font color” command. Similarly, if we want to change the color of cells itself then we use the various color options available in “fill color” command. But have you ever wondered that what are names of different colors available which we can apply to texts and cells?? YouTube Video In this post we will see details about this.  The color options which are available in “font color” and “fill color” commands are as below: Fill Color: Font Color: If we compare above two images, we can see these color options are categorized into two categories. 1. Theme Colors 2. Standard Colors Theme Colors: There are total 60 different colors available in (06 rows x 10 columns) in Theme Colors category  (These colors w...
Read more

Insert Multiple Rows in Excel Based On Cell Value

By
Image
In this blog post we will learn to Insert Multiple Rows in excel based on cell value with the help of VBA Code. For this we have prepared dummy data as shown in below image. In this data we have listed few “Products”, their “Quantities” and their “Unit Price”. Now we want to insert multiple rows based on their “Quantities”. For example, “Product 1” has 04 quantities so we have to add 04 rows below the Product 1, “Product 2” has 02 quantities so we have to add 02 rows below the Product 2 and so on. To avoid wasting our time by manually inserting rows one by one, we can use VBA code which will do our work within seconds. To do this, just follow the below steps: 1. Add “Developer Tab” on the Ribbon if it is not already added. If you are not aware about how to add Developer Tab on the Ribbon then click here . Once added on the Ribbon, “Developer Tab” will looks like as highlighted with red in below image. 2. Now, click on the “Visual Basic” command as highlighted in below image. 3. Once ...
Read more

Doughnut Chart in Excel

By
Image
Previously we have learned about creating “ Column Charts in Excel ”, “ Bar Charts in Excel ” and “ Pie Charts in Excel ”. Now, in this blog post we will learn to create “Doughnut Chart in Excel”. We will take very simple example to create “Doughnut Chart in Excel”. We have listed 05 products: Product A, Product B, Product C, Product D and Product E along with their costs. Now we have to convert this data into Doughnut Chart for better data visualization. Just follow below steps: 1. Select the above data which we want to convert into Doughnut Chart. 2. Go to “Insert” Tab, Select Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart command under “Charts” group. 3. We will get further options for selecting Insert Pie or Doughnut Chart . Out of these appeared option we have to select “Doughnut” option as shown in below image. 4. We can see that “Doughnut Chart” is now created for our selected data. Changing Chart Style: To change the formatting of our Doughnut Chart, click on the existing “Doughnut Chart” and t...
Read more

Conditional Formatting:Highlighting Above Average and Below Average Values

By
Image
This blog post is continuation to our series of posts on “Conditional Formatting”. In this blog post, we will learn about highlighting values which are “Above Average” and “Below Average” of the selected values. To learn this post in an easy way, I have randomly listed few numbers as shown in below image. We will learn how to highlight the numbers which are above the average of all the selected numbers and which are below the average of all the selected numbers. For your easy understanding I have already calculated average value of all these numbers numbers (Which is 65). This will help us to easily cross check our output. Highlighting Above Average Values: Select all the values from which we wish to highlight the “Above Average Values”. Go to Conditional Formatting (which is available in Home Tab under Styles group) and select “Above Average” option as shown in below image. “Above Average” dialog box will appear on screen. Select the Formatting style from available list and hit OK but...
Read more

Bold, Italic and Underline Commands from Font Group

By
Image
Bold, Italic and Underline… These three commands are very basic but very important and frequently used in excel. These commands can be found under Font Group. YouTube Video: Let us have detailed description about these commands..!                                              Bold : If we want to change our text into Bold format, then we can use this command. Keyboard shortcut to use this command is Ctrl+B. In below image we have inserted a sample text in cell A1. If we click on the Bold icon from font group or use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+B, then the text from cell A1 will convert into Bold as shown in below image. Italic : If we want to convert our text into Italic format, then we can use this command. Keyboard shortcut to use this command is Ctrl+I. In below image we have inserted a sample text in cell A1. If we click on the Italic icon...
Read more