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How to remove the first character from a cell in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationExcel & Google Sheets
=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-1)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Original | Trimmed |
| $1000 | |
| #Error | |
| *Note | |
| @User | |
| -Tag |
=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-1)→000
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Step by step
- 1Click the destination cell (e.g. B2).
- 2Enter =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-1) — LEN(A2) gives the total character count; subtracting 1 skips the first character.
- 3Press Enter and copy the formula down.
- 4To remove the first N characters instead, change -1 to -N.
Tips
- Combine with VALUE() if the result should be a number after removing a leading symbol: =VALUE(RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-1)).
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Frequently asked
What happens if the cell contains only one character?
RIGHT returns an empty string, which is correct behavior — the result is simply blank.
Can I use MID instead?
Yes — =MID(A2,2,LEN(A2)) is equivalent and also removes the first character.
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