Remove initial characters

Text > Delete number of leading characters

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

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

To remove characters in cells with formulas, 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

Running this tool

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

Excel:

LibreOffice Calc:

Do you recognize any of these situations?

• How can I remove the first 6 characters of text and use them as a 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 find and replace function to remove the R.

Decision

Just select the cells and then choose the following tool from the menu Excel (Calc) :

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 this save?

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

Download extension

You can use the utility Delete number of leading characters by installing the extension YLC Utilities .

After that, this function will be available in all files that are opened in Excel (LibreOffice Calc) .