Text
LEFT function
First characters of text. LEFT works in Sheets with the usual arguments and results, on cells and on live data from the tools you connect.
Syntax
=LEFT(text, [count]) | Argument | Use |
|---|---|
text | required |
count | optional |
Example
The first characters of a text.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Order | Customer | Region | Status | Amount | Date |
| 2 | #1001 | Acme Ltd | North | Paid | 1200 | 2026-01-14 |
| 3 | #1002 | Blue Fox | South | Open | 450 | 2026-01-20 |
| 4 | #1003 | Acme Ltd | North | Paid | 980 | 2026-02-03 |
| 5 | #1004 | Cedar & Co | East | Overdue | 2300 | 2026-02-11 |
| 6 | #1005 | Blue Fox | South | Paid | 610 | 2026-03-02 |
| 7 | #1006 | Delta BV | West | Open | 1750 | 2026-03-09 |
| 8 | #1 |
Result computed by the Sheets formula engine.
On live data
In Sheets, LEFT sits next to live data from a connected tool: =data.orders.sum(total) totals a table, =list.orders(customer) spills a column's distinct values, and a linked table column such as table.orders[Total] is a range any function accepts.
More text functions
CONCATJoin text stringsLENString lengthLOWERLowercasePROPERCapitalize each wordSUBSTITUTEReplace textTEXTFormat a number or date as textTEXTJOINJoin texts with a delimiterTRIMRemove extra spacesARRAYTOTEXTValues of an array as one textASCFull-width characters to half-widthBAHTTEXTNumber as Thai baht textCHARCharacter for a code from 1 to 255
Spreadsheet formulas on live business data
Sheets evaluates 491 spreadsheet functions, on cells and on data read live from your tools.