How to Use the LEFT Function in Excel (Extract Characters from the Beginning)

How to Use the LEFT Function in Excel (Extract Characters from the Beginning)

The LEFT() function in Excel allows you to extract a specified number of characters from the beginning (left side) of a text string.

📘 Syntax:

=LEFT(text, num_chars)

✅ Example:

=LEFT("ScriptDataInsights", 6)

This returns "Script" — the first 6 characters from the string.

🎯 Use Cases:

• Extract prefixes from product or employee codes
• Separate first names from full names
• Standardize data entries

💡 Pro Tip:

Combine with FIND() to dynamically pull names or values that appear before a space or character.

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