Can I Spreadsheet?
← All functions

LEFT

Supported, behaves as documented

Category: Text · Last tested 2026-08-06

Real, executed compatibility results for the LEFT function across Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc — verified by actually running it. Syntax and links to each vendor’s official documentation are below.

Support matrix

EngineDocumentedLive-testedVerdict
Excel Yes Not yet n/a
Google Sheets Yes Not yet n/a
LibreOffice Calc Yes Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-06) Supported, behaves as documented

LibreOffice version history

We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when LEFT’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.

LibreOffice versionVerdictTested
24.2.0.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-19
24.8.7.2 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-19
25.2.0.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-07-24
25.8.7.3 Supported, behaves as documented 2026-08-06

Executed test cases

LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-06)

FormulaDescriptionResultExpectedVerdict
=LEFT(A1) num_chars omitted defaults to 1 E E Matched
=LEFT(A1,3) Basic extraction of the first 3 characters Exc Exc Matched
=LEFT(A1,100) num_chars larger than the string length returns the whole string, not an error Excel Excel Matched
=LEFT(A1,0) num_chars=0 returns an empty string Matched

Docs & syntax

Related how-to recipes

Compared against other functions