The LEFT function is to return the characters you specified in a text string.
Formula:
=LEFT(text, [num_chars])
Explanations:
Text is required, the text string that contains the characters you need to extract;
[Num_chars] is optional, the number of characters you need to extract.
Cautions:
– The Num_chars must be over or equal to zero. A negative number will cause #VALUE! error;
– When the num_chars is omitted, it is assumed to be 1;
– When the num_chars is larger than the length of the string, it returns all the string.
Example 1: When [num_chars] is negative, the result returns to error (#VALUE!).
=LEFT(A2,-6)
The result returns to error #VALUE!
Example 2: When [num_chars] is 0, the result returns to blank.
=LEFT(A3,0)
The result returns to blank.
Example 3: When [num_chars] is positive but less than or equal to the length of the text string, the result returns to the characters you specified.
=LEFT(A5, 5)
The result returns to the first 5 letters.
Example 4: When [num_chars] is positive but longer than the length of the text string, the result returns to all the string in the cell.
=LEFT(A6,24)
The result returns to all the string "How to Use LEFT Function", which has 24 characters.