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How to Use the RIGHT Function in Google Sheets

There are a few useful functions in Google Sheets that you can use to return substrings from a specific string.

One such function is the right function. Using this formula allows you to take a string and return a specific substring from the right of your original string.

In this tutorial, I will show you how to use the RIGHT function in Google Sheets.

Table of Contents

RIGHT Syntax

The RIGHT function will take a string and return a substring from the right of your original string according to the number of characters that you specify in the formula.

The syntax of the RIGHT function is:

=RIGHT(string, [number_of_characters])

  • string – the string that will be taken to return a specific substring from the right
  • number_of_characters – this is an optional argument and will be set to 1 by default. Here you specify the number of characters from the right of the string that you want to return

Using the RIGHT Function

Using the RIGHT function is very simple.

Here are the steps:

  1. For the first argument of the function, put in the cell reference that contains your string (or you can put your string directly in the function)
  2. For the second argument of the function, put a number that represents how many characters from the right of your string you want returned

Here are a few examples:

RIGHT function example

Let’s break down each formula used in the example so you can understand what each one is doing:

  • =RIGHT(A2) – by default if you leave the number_of_characters parameter out of your function, it will be set to 1. So this returns a single letter all the way at the right of the original string
  • =RIGHT(A3,2) – this takes the string in A3 and returns 2 characters starting from the right
  • =RIGHT(A4,3) – this takes the string in A4 and returns 3 characters starting from the right
  • =RIGHT(A5,4) – this takes the string in A5 and returns 4 characters starting from the right

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully by now after you have read through this entire tutorial, you have a good understanding of how to use this function.

I have only covered the basics of how to use it here, but RIGHT is a useful formula that can be combined with other formulas to do more advanced things.

More Google Sheets Tutorials:
How to Use the LEN Function
How to Use the SUBSTITUTE Function