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How to use LEFT and RIGHT formulas together in excel

February 11, 2022
32.2K Views

Are you ready to master how to use LEFT and RIGHT formulas togetherin excel? After learning this WPS free course, you will be advanced from a beginner in WPS Spreadsheet.

· What is WPS Spreadsheet?

WPS Spreadsheet is compatible with Microsoft Office Excel. As the world's leading developer of office software solutions, WPS Office provides free applications for individuals and businesses to improve productivity.

· What is the LEFT and RIGHT function in WPS Spreadsheet?

They both allow you to extract a given number of characters from a given text string.

Function

Description

Syntax

The LEFT function

Return the characters with a specified number from the first character of a text string.

Text, Num_chars

Text is the text string containing the characters you want to extract.

Num_chars specifies how many characters you want LEFT to extract; 1 if omitted.

The RIGHT function

Return the characters with a specified number from the end of a text string.

Text, Num_chars

Text is the text string containing the characters you want to extract.

Num_chars specifies how many characters you want LEFT to extract; 1 if omitted.

· Example of combine LEFT and RIGHT in WPS Spreadsheet

Suppose we want to delete the first 5 and last 4 characters from i,e 12345Mary1234. And the result we want is Mary.

Is this possible? Let’s try to figure it out.

I'll start by giving the conclusion first: to get Mary, you need to enter the following formula:

=LEFT(RIGHT(A1,8),4)

Seems a little bit tricky? Let’s divide the steps from the inside RIGHT to the outside LEFT.

1. Place your cursor at cell B3 where we want to get the result. Enter the following formula: RIGHT(A1,8)

Explanation: By doing so, we can get 8 characters from the right side of cell A1, that is, Mary1234.

2. Then, click cell B3, complete the formula by entering: =LEFT(RIGHT(A1,8),4)

Explanation: Right(A1,8) becomes the Text argument in the LEFT function. So the entire formula can help us return 4 characters from the left side of Mary1234, that is, Mary.

3. If you know how =LEFT(RIGHT(A1,8),4) works, you can try to type the following formula to get the same result:

=RIGHT(LEFT(A1,9),4).

Come and try it.

In today's free WPS Office tutorial, we have learned a simple yet useful way to use LEFT and RIGHT in excel. WPS Spreadsheet is similar to Microsoft Office is avaliable for Windows, PC, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS devices.

To explore more about WPS Office:

Click here to learn how to use the text function to extract characters in cells.

Excel is the most powerful tool to manage and analyze various types of Data. This free WPS Spreadsheet tutorial for beginners covers in-depth lessons for Excel learning and how to use various Excel formulas, tables and charts for managing small to large scale business process.

15 years of office industry experience, tech lover and copywriter. Follow me for product reviews, comparisons, and recommendations for new apps and software.