Hi,

In Column B , you should use =LEFT(A1,1) and copy it down to all the
values in column A.

Regards

Govind.

rebates wrote:
If I have a "column A" containing +5000 entries, with each cell being a
name, how do I create a "column B" next to it with each cell being the
first initial of the name in "column A"?

I know I can use the "LEFT" function in the forumla bar to convert a
single cell, but I don't know how to apply it to a column with a cell
range so I dont' have to do this +5000 times, and worse - on about 113
different spreadsheets.

I tried clicking on "Column B" and entering LEFT(A1:A5231) after the
"=" sign in the formula bar, but as soon as I typed the colon it said
invalid character. It was acting like I couldn't use this to create a
formula for the column.

I'm sure there is a way to do this for a column if there is a function
that will do this for a cell.

Please help.