LEFT  

This function extracts a specified amount of characters from the left-hand side of a string.

This function extracts a specified amount of characters from the left-hand side of the input string'. To use this function the format needs to be

LEFT(input, number)

So a simple example would be

=LEFT("EXAMPLE",4) would give EXAM

If the input is less than the number then the whole string will be returned

=LEFT("EXA",4) would give EXA

Any text containing spaces needs to be contained within "".