Using the LEFT formula for multiple cells
 

I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I have mulitple cells, and I want to
take the first character of each text string in each cell into one cell what
do I use with the LEFT formula?

Example.

A1 = Hi
B1 = Ouch
C1 = What

D=HOW or =LEFT(A1,1),(B1,1),(C1,1)

Nothing I'm trying is working :(

Your help is appreciated!

Answer: Using the LEFT formula for multiple cells
 

Hi there! It sounds like you're trying to use the LEFT formula to extract the first character from multiple cells and combine them into one cell. Here's how you can do it:

1. First, you'll need to decide which cell you want to combine the first characters into. Let's say you want to combine them into cell D1.
2. In cell D1, you can use the following formula to extract the first character from cell A1:
   
   Formula:

   ---

   =LEFT(A1,1) 


   ---

   This formula tells Excel to take the first character from cell A1 and display it in cell D1.
3. To add the first character from cell B1 to the formula, you can use the ampersand (&) symbol to concatenate the formulas together:
   
   Formula:

   ---

   =LEFT(A1,1)&LEFT(B1,1) 


   ---

   This formula tells Excel to take the first character from cell A1 and combine it with the first character from cell B1, and display the result in cell D1.
4. To add the first character from cell C1 to the formula, you can continue to use the ampersand symbol to concatenate the formulas together:
   
   Formula:

   ---

   =LEFT(A1,1)&LEFT(B1,1)&LEFT(C1,1) 


   ---

   This formula tells Excel to take the first character from cell A1, combine it with the first character from cell B1, combine that result with the first character from cell C1, and display the final result in cell D1.

Using the LEFT formula for multiple cells
 

Emily G,

You are going to need a separate LEFT function for each cell you are trying
to grab the 1st character from, and then you are going to need to
concatenate them together.

Try this formula in cell D1:

=LEFT(A1,1) & LEFT(B1,1) & LEFT(C1,1)

The ampersand charater is a shortcut for concatenation. There is a
CONCATENATE function as well. Check out the help files for it if you want
to learn more.

Hope this helps,

Conan Kelly




"Emily G" <Emily wrote in message
...
I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I have mulitple cells, and I want
to
take the first character of each text string in each cell into one cell
what
do I use with the LEFT formula?

Example.

A1 = Hi
B1 = Ouch
C1 = What

D=HOW or =LEFT(A1,1),(B1,1),(C1,1)

Nothing I'm trying is working :(

Your help is appreciated!

Using the LEFT formula for multiple cells
 

Hi Emily

LEFT(A1)&LEFT(B1)&LEFT(C1)

Without specifying the number of characters, the default is 1

--
Regards

Roger Govier


"Emily G" <Emily wrote in message
...
I'm going nuts trying to figure out if I have mulitple cells, and I
want to
take the first character of each text string in each cell into one
cell what
do I use with the LEFT formula?

Example.

A1 = Hi
B1 = Ouch
C1 = What

D=HOW or =LEFT(A1,1),(B1,1),(C1,1)

Nothing I'm trying is working :(

Your help is appreciated!