Remove leading characters

Text > Delete number of leading characters

This utility removes a specified number of characters from the beginning of the text in the selected cells.

The utility works with both numbers and text. Cells with formulas will be skipped.

To remove characters in formula cells, you must first convert the formulas to values.

You can, for example, use it to quickly delete the first three characters in all selected cells.

Screenshot

Launch this tool

Click YLC Utilities > Text > Delete number of leading characters :

Do you recognize any of these situations?

• How can I remove the first 6 characters of the text and use them as the cell value?
• I have a column (27422 rows). I would like to remove the first 4 characters.
• I have a long list of part numbers that start with the letter R. I want to remove the R from the part number. The problem is that the R can also appear elsewhere in the part number, but I need it to stay in place. So I can't use the search and replace function to remove R.

Decision

Just select the cells and then choose the following tool from the LO Calc menu:

YLC Utilities » Text » Delete number of leading characters

This is a faster alternative than using a temporary column and a combination of the =LEFT(), =MID(), =RIGHT(), and =LEN() functions.

How much time will it save?

Using this tool, you are guaranteed to save time and effort. However, the actual time savings depends on how often you use LibreOffice Calc, the amount of data you work with, and how often you use the tool.

Download

If you don't already have YLC Utilities, you can download the free version "YouLibreCalc.oxt" or the full-featured version "YLC_Utilities.oxt" .