Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel: 3 Cool methods to extract text from the beginning of a text string

Chris Menard

02 May 2023 — 2 min read

We frequently need to extract part of a text string in Microsoft Excel. We are going to extract the first part of a text string. Examples of text string parts you would extract include product numbers, employee IDs, and accounting numbers.

**Excel Left and Find Function**

For example, the product number GA-205-Atl or the accounting number 0012346-00123. Any number that is broken up by some delimiter and you need to remove part of the number qualifies. The three methods we're going to use will include the following. Flash fill, the left function combined with the Find function, and finally, a great function in Excel called Textbefore.

YouTube video

Excel - 3 Cool methods to extract text from the beginning of a text string

Flash Fill

Flash Fill looks for a pattern in Excel data. When it picks up a pattern, it automatically fills in the data. An example of Flash Fill is first and last names are in column A. You can flash fill the first name in column B and the last name in column C.

Flash Fill in Excel

Flash Fill Video

Excel Flash Fill - Getting Started with 4 Awesome Examples

Left Function

The LEFT function is a text function. It has two arguments. It pulls text starting on the left and the number of characters.

LEFT(text, [num_chars])

If A2 contains ABC-123, the LEFT function =LEFT(A2,3) would return ABC.

Find Function

The Find function has three arguments. FIND(find_text, within_text, [start_num])

- Find_text Required. The text you want to find. - Within_text Required. The text containing the text you want to find. - Start_num Optional. Specifies the character at which to start the search. The first character in within_text is character number 1. If you omit start_num, it is assumed to be 1.

TEXTBEFORE Function

The TEXTBEFORE function will return the text that occurs before a given character or substring (delimiter).

For example, if A2 contains R4T2-AB3-GA44, TEXTBEFORE(A2,"-") returns R4T2

=TEXTBEFORE(text,delimiter,[instance_num], [match_mode], [match_end], [if_not_found])

Count Unique Values in Excel with UNIQUE, SORT, and COUNTIF Functions Tutorial

Table of Contents * 📋 Why this method works and when I use it * 📋 Setting up the table * 🔎 Extract distinct values with UNIQUE * ↕️ Sort the unique list with SORT * 🔢 Count occurrences using COUNTIF * ✅ Why tables beat ranges for this task * 🔁 When to use this instead of a pivot table * 🔧 Quick checklist to

Financial Ratios - Formula Completion in Excel using Copilot

Writing formulas in Excel can be time-consuming and challenging, even for experienced users. Selecting the right function, referencing the correct cells, and ensuring proper syntax often slows down workflows and leads to errors. Many users spend extra time troubleshooting mistakes, searching for examples, or trying to recall the exact formula

Excel Formula Completion - Using XLOOKUP

I tested how well Excel's formula completion with Copilot handles a multi-step calculation that would normally require a nested function. The goal was simple: calculate profit by subtracting the total cost of units sold from total revenue, with unit costs stored in a separate lookup table. Instead of

Copilot in Teams Meetings without Transcription: Use AI While Respecting Privacy

Microsoft Teams has a great Copilot feature. A Microsoft 365 license is required for this feature. In a Teams meeting, I need AI assistance during a conversation, but the participants do not want the call recorded or transcribed. There are plenty of situations where privacy matters: a vendor asks for