Documentation/Calc Functions/LEFT

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    Function name:

    LEFT

    Category:

    Text

    Summary:

    Extracts a sub-string from the left of the supplied text string, with the length of the sub-string specified in characters.

    Syntax:

    LEFT(Text[; Number])

    Returns:

    Returns a text string comprising the specified number of characters from the left side of the supplied text string.

    Arguments:

    Text is a text string (in quotation marks), a number, or a reference to a cell containing one of those types, that is the string from which characters are to be extracted.

    Number is a non-negative integer, or a reference to a cell containing a non-negative integer, that is the number of characters to be extracted. If Number is omitted, LEFT uses the value 1.

    • If Number is non-numeric, then LEFT reports a #VALUE! error.
    • If Number is a non-integer value, LEFT truncates it to an integer value.
    • If Number is less than 0, then LEFT reports an invalid argument error (Err:502).
    • If Text has fewer characters than the value of Number, LEFT returns a copy of Text.

    Additional details:

    None.

    Examples:

    Formula Description Returns
    =LEFT("Input string"; 2) Here the function returns the first two characters of the supplied string. In
    =LEFT(12,345.6789; 5) Here the function returns the first five digits of the supplied number, formatted as a text string. 12345
    =LEFT(D1; D2) where cell D1 contains the string "Input string" and cell D2 contains the number 3. Here the function returns the first three characters of the supplied string. Inp
    =LEFT("Input string") Here the function returns the first character of the supplied string. The default value of 1 is applied when the Number argument is omitted. I
    =LEFT("Input string"; 0) Here the function returns the empty string.

    Related LibreOffice functions:

    LEFTB

    MID

    RIGHT

    ODF standard:

    Section 6.20.12, part 2

    Related (or similar) Excel functions:

    LEFT