Spread Formula Reference
LEFT
Formula Functions > Functions H to L > LEFT

This function returns the specified leftmost characters from a text value.

Syntax

LEFT(mytext,num_chars)

Arguments

This function has these arguments:

Argument Description
mytext Text string that contains the characters you want to extract.
num_chars [Optional] Number of characters to extract; if omitted, uses one; if not an integer, the number is truncated

The mytext argument can be a string, a formula that returns a string, or a reference to a cell containing a string.

The num_chars argument has these rules:

Data Types

Accepts string data for the first argument and numeric data the second argument. Returns string data.

Examples

LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)–1)

LEFT(R2C1,LEN(R2C1)–1)

LEFT(""TotalPrice"") gives the result T

LEFT(""Total Price"", 5) gives the result Total

Version Available

This function is available in product version 1.0 or later.

See Also

MID | RIGHT | Text Functions