5 Most Basic (But the Best) Text Functions You Must Know in Excel

When you’re just starting out in Excel, it’s easy to feel lost in the sea of functions and formulas. But here’s the good news — you don’t need to know everything to get started.

If you master a few basic text functions, you can already start cleaning, formatting, and transforming your data like a pro.

Let’s look at the Top 5 Text Functions you should learn right now:

1️⃣ TEXT() – Format Numbers & Dates Your Way

What it does: Converts numbers or dates into text in the exact format you want.

📌 Example:=TEXT(A1, "dd-mmm-yyyy")

If A1 = 19/09/2025 → the result will be 19-Sep-2025

✅ Perfect for reports, dashboards, or invoices where presentation matters.

2️⃣ TEXTJOIN() – Combine Text Without the Mess

What it does: Joins text from multiple cells into one, with a delimiter you choose.

📌 Example:=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A1:A3)

If A1 = Amit, A2 = Neha, A3 = Rahul → the result will be Amit, Neha, Rahul

✅ Saves time compared to manual CONCATENATE or & formulas.

3️⃣ LEFT() – Extract from the Beginning

What it does: Pulls characters from the start (left side) of a string.

📌 Example:=LEFT(A1, 5)

If A1 = “ExcelMastery” → the result will be Excel

✅ Useful for splitting codes, IDs, or fixed-length text.

4️⃣ RIGHT() – Extract from the End

What it does: Pulls characters from the end (right side) of a string.

📌 Example:=RIGHT(A1, 6)

If A1 = “ExcelMastery” → the result will be Master

✅ Perfect for trimming suffixes, codes, or year values.

5️⃣ MID() – Get Exactly What You Need

What it does: Extracts characters from the middle of a string, based on starting position & length.

📌 Example:=MID(A1, 6, 6)

If A1 = “ExcelMastery” → the result will be Master

✅ Use this when the useful part of your data sits in between.

🚀 Why These 5?

Because they are:

✅ Simple to learn

✅ Practical in real-life tasks

✅ Building blocks for advanced data cleaning

Whether you’re preparing reports, analyzing data, or just cleaning messy sheets — these 5 text functions will instantly boost your efficiency.

🎓 Want to Go Beyond the Basics?

I’ve designed Excel courses from Basic to Advanced (including Macros & Dashboards) to help you:

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Don’t just use Excel. Master it.

– CA Amit Jain , MVP, Excel Trainer & Automation Expert | Founder bizwiz.co.in