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TEXTBEFORE function playground
Returns the text that comes before a delimiter, such as the user name before the @ in an email.
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How TEXTBEFORE works
TEXTBEFORE finds the delimiter and returns everything to its left. With instance_num you choose which occurrence: 2 means the second one, and a negative number counts from the end.
If the delimiter isn't there you get #N/A, unless you give if_not_found a value to show instead.
It replaces the old LEFT and FIND combination, which needed a calculation to work out the length.
Syntax
=TEXTBEFORE(text, delimiter, [instance_num], [match_mode], [match_end], [if_not_found])| Argument | What it means |
|---|---|
textrequired | The text to search. |
delimiterrequired | The text that marks the cut, such as "@". |
instance_numoptional | Which occurrence to use. 1 by default; negative numbers count from the end. |
match_modeoptional | 0 case-sensitive (default), 1 ignore case. |
match_endoptional | 1 treats the end of the text as a delimiter. 0 by default. |
if_not_foundoptional | What to return when the delimiter isn't found. Without it you get #N/A. |
Examples
| Formula | What it does | Result |
|---|---|---|
=TEXTBEFORE(B2,"@") | The user name part of the email. | grace.kim |
=TEXTBEFORE(A2,",") | The last name before the comma. | Kim |
=TEXTBEFORE(C2,"-",2) | Everything before the second dash: country and year. | US-2026 |
=TEXTBEFORE(C2,"-",-1) | Everything before the last dash. | US-2026-0412 |
=TEXTBEFORE(A2,"/",,,,"No slash") | A friendly result when the delimiter is missing. | No slash |
Common mistakes
#N/AThe delimiter isn't in the text, or instance_num is larger than the number of delimiters. Add an if_not_found value.
CaseMatching is case-sensitive by default. Use 1 for match_mode to ignore case.
VersionTEXTBEFORE needs Microsoft 365, Excel 2024 or Excel for the web. In older versions use LEFT with FIND.
Related functions
Learn more
Download the example workbook (.xlsx)
The workbook has the same sample data and formulas, plus a practice sheet.