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How to Remove First or Last N Characters From a Cell or String in Excel?
With the help of Excel, you may edit and analyse data in a number of different ways. One such task is to take out a predetermined number of characters from the start or end of the content of a cell or from a specified string. This manual will give you the skills and information you need to simplify your data processing chores, whether you want to eliminate extra characters from a list of names, remove prefixes or suffixes from product identifiers, or just clean up your data.
It is assumed that you are familiar with the fundamentals of Excel, including how to navigate between cells and enter formulas, before we start. Don't worry if you're unfamiliar with Excel or need a review. We'll walk you through each step of this tutorial's beginner-friendly design with detailed explanations and examples.
Remove First or Last N Characters From a Cell or String
Here we will first get any one of the values using the formula, then use the autofill handle to complete the task. So let us see a simple process to learn how you can remove the first or last n characters from a cell or string in Excel.
Step 1
Consider an Excel sheet where you have a list of strings.
First, to remove the first N characters, click on an empty cell, in this case cell B2, and enter the formula as =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-2) and click enter to get the value. In the formula, A2 is the cell containing the original data, and 2 represents removing the first two characters.
Empty Cell > Formula > Enter.
Step 2
Then drag down using the autofill handle. Then you will see that the first two characters will be removed.
This is how you can remove the first n characters in Excel.
Note
If you want to remove the last n characters, use the formula = =LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-2).
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we have used a simple example to demonstrate how you can remove the first or last n characters from a cell or string in Excel to highlight a particular set of data.
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