MS Excel: Working with Text Functions Explained (LEFT, RIGHT, MID, CONCATENATE)
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Excel isn’t just for numbers — it’s also extremely powerful when working with text. Text functions allow you to extract, combine, and manipulate text within cells.
Four of the most commonly used text functions are LEFT, RIGHT, MID, and CONCATENATE.
1️⃣ LEFT Function
The LEFT function extracts characters from the beginning of a text string.
Structure:
=LEFT(text, number_of_characters)
Example:
If cell A1 contains INV-2024-001, then:
=LEFT(A1,3)
Returns: INV
This is useful for extracting prefixes, department codes, or invoice identifiers.
2️⃣ RIGHT Function
The RIGHT function extracts characters from the end of a text string.
Structure:
=RIGHT(text, number_of_characters)
Example:
=RIGHT(A1,3)
Returns: 001
Useful for extracting reference numbers or codes at the end of text strings.
3️⃣ MID Function
The MID function extracts text from the middle of a string, starting at a specific position.
Structure:
=MID(text, start_position, number_of_characters)
Example:
=MID(A1,5,4)
Returns: 2024
This is helpful when working with structured codes or formatted references.
4️⃣ CONCATENATE (or CONCAT)
The CONCATENATE function combines text from multiple cells.
Structure:
=CONCATENATE(text1, text2)
Modern Excel versions use:
=CONCAT(text1, text2)
Example:
If A1 contains John and B1 contains Smith:
=CONCAT(A1," ",B1)
Returns: John Smith
This is commonly used to combine first and last names, create reference codes, or build email addresses.
Why Text Functions Matter
Text functions are essential when:
✔ Cleaning imported data
✔ Working with invoice numbers
✔ Creating reference codes
✔ Splitting or combining names
✔ Preparing data for reporting
They help turn messy text data into structured, usable information.
Final Thoughts
Mastering text functions allows you to manipulate and organise data more efficiently. These simple formulas are widely used in administrative, finance, HR, and reporting roles.
If you regularly handle structured codes or names in Excel, these functions will quickly become part of your daily toolkit.
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