How to Use LEFT in Google Sheets in 2020?

LEFTReturns a substring from the beginning of a specified string.

Sample Usage

LEFT(A2,2)

LEFT(“lorem ipsum”)

Syntax

LEFT(string, [number_of_characters])

string – The string from which the left portion will be returned.

number_of_characters – [ OPTIONAL – 1 by default ] – The number of characters to return from the left side of string.

Notes

0 is a valid input for number_of_characters and will cause LEFT to return the empty string.

See Also

SUBSTITUTE: Replaces existing text with new text in a string.

SPLIT: Divides text around a specified character or string, and puts each fragment into a separate cell in the row.

RIGHT: Returns a substring from the end of a specified string.

MID: Returns a segment of a string.

Examples