RIGHT() – Extracts rightmost characters from text

The RIGHT() function returns a specified number of characters from the end (right side) of a text string.

Syntax

RIGHT(text, numChars)

  • text: The text string or a cell reference containing the text from which to extract characters.
  • numChars: The number of characters to extract from the right of the text. This must be a non-negative integer.

Basic example

RIGHT(T1A1, 4)

Extracts the last 4 characters from the text in cell T1A1.

  • If T1A1 = "Example Text": RIGHT(T1A1, 4)"Text"
  • If T1A1 = "MathGrid": RIGHT(T1A1, 4)"Grid"
  • If T1A1 = "Data" and you request more characters than available: RIGHT(T1A1, 10)"Data" (returns the entire string)
  • If T1A1 = "Information" and numChars is 0: RIGHT(T1A1, 0)"" (an empty string)

Key features

  • End-of-string extraction: Always extracts characters from the end of the input text.
  • Handling of numChars: If numChars is 0, it returns an empty string. If numChars is greater than the length of the text, it returns the entire text string.
  • Numeric conversion: If the text argument refers to a cell containing a number, that number will first be converted to text, and then RIGHT() will operate on that text representation.

Practical uses

  • Extracting file extensions: RIGHT(filenameCell, 3) for a 3-letter extension.
  • Getting the last few digits of an ID number.
  • Isolating suffixes or trailing codes from a longer string.
  • Checking the end of a string for specific characters or patterns.

Common mistakes

  • numChars is negative: Providing a negative number for numChars will likely result in an error.
  • numChars is not a number: The numChars argument must be an integer or a cell reference pointing to one.
  • Text argument is a number but expecting string logic: e.g., RIGHT(12345, 2) will treat "12345" as text and return "45".
  • Assuming left-to-right: RIGHT() always starts from the right. For left-to-right extraction, use the LEFT() function.

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