Need a formula that inputs text into a cell depending on what the first few characters are

Hi All,

Im looking for a formula that will look at the first few characters in a cell. Then if the cell has them first characters the formula will enter some specific text (that i choose) into another cell.

The reason for this is i am creating a excel document that allows us to scan our warehouse equipment in and out. Similar equipment has serial numbers(barcodes) that start with the same characters so thats why id like the formula to only look at the first few characters and judge what the equipment is based on that.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Daniel Lee

Hi,

you can solve that with a rather simple function. Let's say you are checking if the first 3 characters in A1 are "bla". Then put this into B1:

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Wow,
Thanks for the help. Exactly what i was looking for! Also thanks for the quick response.

Glad to help.