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What it does: The LEFT() Function removes a string from the left side of a given piece of text according to parameters you set.

Plain English: The LEFT() Function is for removing the left part of a string. Imagine we had a list of emails like Ashley.Doe@example.com, and all we really need is the first name from the email. If that email was in cell A2, then LEFT(A2,6) would yield “Ashley”. (Are you wondering what to do if every first name is a different length? Check out the FIND() article and combine the two)

Arguments: LEFT(text,no. of characters)

  • Text – The text you want to pull a string from
  • No. of characters – How many characters from the left?