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How to remove the last N characters from a cell in Excel and Google Sheets
Topic:Text manipulationExcel & Google Sheets
=LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-3)✓
Verified example
Computed by a real spreadsheet engine on the sample data below.
| Filename | Base |
| report.csv | |
| data.txt | |
| log.csv | |
| notes.csv | |
| backup.csv |
=LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-3)→report.
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Step by step
- 1Determine how many characters to remove from the end — for example, 3 to remove a ".csv" or similar suffix.
- 2Enter =LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-3) in an empty cell; this returns all characters except the last 3.
- 3Adjust the number 3 to however many trailing characters you need to drop.
- 4Use IFERROR to handle cells shorter than N characters: =IFERROR(LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-3),"").
Tips
- To remove a variable suffix that follows a known delimiter, use LEFT with FIND instead of a fixed count: =LEFT(A2,FIND(".",A2)-1).
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Frequently asked
What if I don't know how many characters to remove?
Use FIND or SEARCH to locate the delimiter and calculate the removal dynamically.
Does this differ between Excel and Google Sheets?
No — LEFT and LEN work identically in both applications.
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