How to Use LEFT Function in Excel: Syntax and Examples

The LEFT function in Excel extracts a specified number of characters from the start (left side) of a text string. Use it by typing =LEFT(text, num_chars), where text is the string and num_chars is how many characters you want.

Syntax

The LEFT function has two parts:

• text: The text string you want to extract characters from.
• num_chars: The number of characters to take from the left side of the text.

If num_chars is omitted, Excel takes 1 character by default.

excel

=LEFT(text, num_chars)

Example

This example shows how to extract the first 4 characters from the word "Welcome".

excel

=LEFT("Welcome", 4)

Output

Welc

Common Pitfalls

Common mistakes include:

• Forgetting to put text in quotes if typing directly (e.g., use "Hello" not just Hello).
• Using a num_chars larger than the text length, which just returns the whole text.
• Leaving num_chars blank expecting more than 1 character.

excel

=LEFT("Hi", 5)  <em>returns "Hi" because text is shorter than 5</em>

Output

Hi

Quick Reference

Parameter	Description
text	The text string to extract from
num_chars	Number of characters to extract from the left (default is 1)

Key Takeaways

Use LEFT to get characters from the start of a text string in Excel.

Always put text in quotes when typing directly in the formula.

If num_chars is bigger than text length, LEFT returns the whole text.

Omitting num_chars extracts just the first character by default.