The LEFTB function returns the bytes you specified in a text string. When a double-byte character set (DBCS, e.g., Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean) is set as the default language, each character will be counted as 2 bytes. Otherwise, the LEFTB function is the same as LEFT function.
Formula:
=LEFTB(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.
– 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.
Cautions:
The LEFTB function counts 2 bytes per character when a DBCS language is set as the default language. Otherwise, the LEFTB function counts 1 byte per character.
Example 1: When the [num_chars] is negative, the result returns to error (#VALUE!).
=LEFTB(A2,-6)
The result returns to the error #VALUE!
Example 2: When the [num_chars] is 0, the result returns to blank.
=LEFTB(A3,0)
The result returns to blank.
Example 3: When the [num_chars] is positive but less than or equal to the length of the text string, the result returns to the characters you specified.
=LEFTB(A5,5)
The result returns to the first 5 letters.
Example 4: When the [num_chars] is positive but longer than the length of the text string, the result returns to all the string in the cell.
= LEFTB(A6,24)
The result returns to all the string "How to Use LEFTB Functio", which has 24 characters.
