LEFT Function in Excel

The LEFT Function in Excel extracts the character from the left side of the string based on the argument.

The formula of the LEFT Function is =LEFT(text,[num_char)

For example, consider cell A1 with the text string ‘Calendar’. Let us understand how LEFT Function in Excel works with the following steps.



The steps required to use LEFT function in excel are as follows:

Step 1: Select the cell where we want to display the result. In this case, select cell B1.

Step 2: Type the LEFT Function in cell B1.

The formula is =LEFT(A1).



Step 3: Press Enter key.



We can see that the function has returned the output as ‘C,’ which is the first character of the entered string while taken from the left.

Thus, we can easily use the LEFT function in excel to find values.

The LEFT Function in Excel is used when we want to fetch the specific characters from the left side of the text string.

We can manually type the LEFT Function in Excel function in the desired cell or use the following steps:

1. Select the cell which has the number.
2. Select the Formulas tab.
3. Click on the Text option.
4. Select the LEFT option from the drop-down list.



5. The Function Arguments window pops up.
6. Enter the value in the Text and num_chars arguments. 
7. Click OK.