LEFT Function | How to Extract the Beginning of a Text in Google Sheets

In Google Sheets, when you need to extract a certain number of characters from the beginning of a string, the LEFT function is your go-to tool. It’s especially useful for parsing names, product codes, dates, and standardized prefixes in practical spreadsheet automation.

✅ LEFT Function Syntax

LEFT(text, [num_chars])

• text: The string you want to extract from
• [num_chars]: (optional) Number of characters to extract from the left. Defaults to 1 if omitted

✅ Basic Examples

• Whether the text includes numbers, Korean, or English, LEFT always counts characters from the start.
• For Korean text, each syllable block is counted as one character.

✅ Practical Example ①: Extracting Last Names

When full names are entered and you want just the surname:

✅ Practical Example ②: Extracting Year from Date Strings

• Since the year always appears at the start, you can extract it consistently using LEFT(text, 4)

✅ Practical Example ③: Extracting Product Code Prefix

• Useful when product codes follow fixed patterns

✅ Practical Example ④: Extracting Region Code

✅ Common Mistakes

1. Omitting num_chars returns only 1 character
    → =LEFT("Seoul") returns S
2. LEFT always returns a string—even if input is numeric
    → =LEFT(12345, 2) returns "12" (as a string)

✅ When Should You Use LEFT?

• To extract family names from full names
• To get year, region codes, or specific prefixes in structured data
• In combination with functions like IF, ARRAYFORMULA, or REGEX for automated workflows

✅ Summary

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