Remove Last Character

What this does

Both formulas work the same way: measure the text with LEN, then keep everything except the n characters you are dropping. RIGHT keeps the tail, so it removes from the front; LEFT keeps the head, so it removes from the back. MID(A2, n+1, LEN(A2)) is an equivalent way to say the first, and REPLACE(A2, 1, n, "") an equivalent way again. Microsoft 365 adds two functions that express the intent directly when there is a delimiter to work from: TEXTAFTER(A2, "-") takes everything after the first hyphen and TEXTBEFORE(A2, "-") everything before it, which is more robust than a character count when the prefix length varies. Two cautions apply generally. The result is always TEXT, so a product code stripped of its letter prefix will not behave as a number until you wrap it in VALUE. And if the prefix length is not actually constant, a fixed count silently mangles the rows where it differs — check with =LEN(A2) down the column before trusting it. Keep the inputs visible and clearly labelled and the whole thing stays auditable — anyone who opens the file later, including you, can see at a glance exactly what feeds the result and change one assumption without hunting through the formula. Treat “remove last character” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected cells shows up while it is still harmless. When a formula is involved, keep the inputs labelled beside it, reference cells instead of typing values, and apply number formatting only after the result checks out. That turns a text operation that turns messy entries into clean, usable data into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.

A worked example

Codes like P-04821 in A2. =RIGHT(A2, LEN(A2)-2) drops the "P-" leaving 04821 as text; =VALUE(RIGHT(A2, LEN(A2)-2)) gives the number 4821, which also drops the leading zero — so keep it as text if the zero is meaningful. Where the prefix varies (P-, PR-, PROD-), =TEXTAFTER(A2, "-") is correct for all three, and a fixed count is correct for none. Stripped prefixes are what stand between an exported code column and a lookup that matches, and the only real risk is assuming a prefix length that varies. A practical tip before you scale it up: build it once on a small block of test data, confirm the number against the tool on this page, and only then point it at your real sheet. That one habit catches almost every mistake while it is still cheap to fix, long before a wrong figure reaches a report or a colleague.

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets handles this almost identically to Excel. The formula syntax above is the same, and the menu lives under a slightly different label rather than a ribbon tab. Use the platform toggle at the top of the page to switch every keyboard shortcut between Windows and Mac, and expect at most cosmetic differences in naming. Nothing on this page is behind a login: the tool runs entirely in your browser, the formula is shown in full with one-click copy, and the steps work the same on Windows and Mac. That is the whole promise here — the exact answer, a way to prove it on your own numbers, and just enough context to make it stick. Here is the takeaway for “remove last character”: copy the answer if you are busy, but if you have a spare few minutes, rebuild the example in Excel yourself with the tool above open beside it. That single pass — type it, run it, watch the result move when you change an input — is what turns a formula you found into a technique you trust. Keep your inputs labelled and referenced, never hard-coded, and the same sheet stays correct and auditable as it grows. Done that way, you will not need to look this up again, and you will be the person others ask.

Common mistakes

• Swapping LEFT and RIGHT — RIGHT removes from the start, which reads backwards until you think about which end it keeps.
• Assuming a fixed prefix length and corrupting the rows where it differs.
• Leaving the result as text and then failing to sum or look it up.
• Deleting the source column before pasting the results as values, which fills the column with #REF!.
• Using a character count where trailing spaces are the real problem — TRIM is the right tool for that.

Frequently asked questions