How to cut off text in excel

When you are reading a WPS excel file, you've probably noticed that there is a lot of extra content in the top and bottom of the columns. This can be very annoying when you're trying to access a specific column or row on your spreadsheet. Cutting off text in Excel is one of the most common actions - whether you're extracting a part of a cell, or want to create a table from your data. There are different ways to do it and in this tutorial we'll show you how to remove this excess info and make reading your spreadsheets much more easier.

How to cut off text in excel using LEFT function?

This method works best with versions 2016/2016/mac/online.

There are a lot of reasons you might need to cut off text in excel, from managing large chunks of data to cutting off names and addresses for privacy when you're transferring an entire spreadsheet to another person. Either way, the most common function used to cut off text is the LEFT() function. And here's how you can use it.

1. To truncate characters, first select the data in a worksheet. If you have a spreadsheet with the data, you can simply double-click on it to open. But if you do not have it, then you will have to enter it into a sheet. Once you have the data in a worksheet, you can use Excel's built-in functions to truncate characters.

2. In the next step, you will create a cell with the truncated text string. If you are truncating text for an entire column, then you will also have to prepare a whole column to display the truncated text.

3. To truncate text strings, type the LEFT formula into the cell where you want your first result to appear.

The syntax of the formula is given as follows:

=LEFT (A1,3)

Where;

A1 refers to the target cell, and 3 refers to how many characters after the cell's contents will remain.

How to cut off text in excel using RIGHT function?

This method works best with versions 2016/2016/mac/online

We can use RIGHT function as well to cut off text in excel. And here’s how it is used.

1. RIGHT function works the same way as LEFT function does to cut off text in excel but when we use this function, only the last characters will be displayed.

2. For example, the following formula would produce the similar result:

=RIGHT(A1,3)

3. As mentioned above, this function would display characters from the right side of the cell.

How to hide the overflow text in excel?

This method works best with versions 2016/2016/mac/online

1. First of all, select the cell or range of cells for which you want to hide the overflow text.

2. After selecting the cells, press CTRL+1 and select Fill option from Horizontal drop down menu under the Alignment section.

3. Once you select the fill option and hit OK, the overflow text will hide.

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