Excel Text Functions 1 of 4: =LEFT() and =RIGHT()

For 60 second video, click here:

During the next series of posts I will demonstrate some commonly used Text functions. In the illustrated example we populate a CustomerCode column by combining

• the first letter of the first name,
• the first 4 letters of the last name, and
• the last 4 digits of the phone number

=LEFT

Returns the leftmost character(s) of a cell, as specified by the optional Num_chars argument.

Using the LEFT function to copy the leftmost characters of a cell

1. Select cell to display the result.
2. On the Formulas tab, in the Function Library group, click Text drop-down and select LEFT.
3. In Text field select or type cell containing text.
4. In the Num_chars field enter the number of characters to copy. When left blank the result is only the leftmost character.
5. Click OK.

Concatenate using ‘&’

Use the Ampersand (&) to concatenate (combine) text. For example, with “North” in A1 and “West” in B1, the formula =A1&B1 returns “NorthWest”

=RIGHT

Returns the rightmost character(s) of a cell, as specified by the optional Num_chars argument.

Using the RIGHT function to copy rightmost character(s) of a cell

1. Select cell to display the result.
2. On the Formulas tab, in the Function Library group, click Text drop-down and select RIGHT.
3. In Text field select or type cell containing text.
4. In the Num_chars field enter number of characters to copy. When left blank the result is only the rightmost character.
5. Click OK.

Cheers!

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Additional reading:

• Insert Tables from Web into Excel
• Excel Data Consolidation
• More Excel Tips

Comments and questions are always welcome!

Author: quincy harley jr

Quincy is a technophile, coach and Learning Development expert. He has an extensive legal IT background and is practiced in MS Office application support and product development. As a project leader he has been integral in numerous new application rollouts. Whatever spare time he has, is spent with reading, archery and watching his young sons grow. View all posts by quincy harley jr