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MySQL: LEFT Function

This MySQL tutorial explains how to use the MySQL LEFT function with syntax and examples.

Description

The MySQL LEFT function allows you to extract a substring from a string, starting from the left-most character.

Syntax

The syntax for the LEFT function in MySQL is:

LEFT( string, number_of_characters )

Parameters or Arguments

string
The string that you wish to extract from.
number_of_characters
The number of characters that you wish to extract from string starting from the left-most character.

Note

  • If number_of_characters exceeds the length of string, the LEFT function will return string.

Applies To

The LEFT function can be used in the following versions of MySQL:

  • MySQL 5.7, MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.5, MySQL 5.1, MySQL 5.0, MySQL 4.1, MySQL 4.0, MySQL 3.23

Example

Let's look at some MySQL LEFT function examples and explore how to use the LEFT function in MySQL.

For example:

mysql> SELECT LEFT('Tech on the net', 1);
Result: 'T'

mysql> SELECT LEFT('techonthenet.com', 4);
Result: 'tech'

mysql> SELECT LEFT('techonthenet.com', 12);
Result: 'techonthenet'

mysql> SELECT LEFT('techonthenet.com', 100);
Result: 'techonthenet.com'
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