Syntax
LEN(text)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| text | Parameter of the LEN function. |
Examples
Check length of a text entry
Formula
=LEN(A2)
Returns: 10 — the number of characters in "John Smith" (including the space)
Validate phone number length
Formula
=IF(LEN(A2)=10, "Valid", "Invalid")
Returns: "Valid" if the phone number has exactly 10 digits, "Invalid" otherwise
Count extra spaces
Formula
=LEN(A2)-LEN(TRIM(A2))
Returns: 3 — the number of extra spaces in the text (leading, trailing, or double spaces)
Common Errors
#VALUE!
The argument is an error value, not a text string. Wrap with IFERROR if the source cell might contain errors.
Tips
Numbers have length too
LEN(12345) returns 5. Dates return the length of their underlying number, not the displayed format.
Find trailing spaces
If LEN(A1) is longer than expected, there may be invisible trailing spaces. Use TRIM to clean them.
Use with RIGHT
=RIGHT(A1, LEN(A1)-FIND(" ",A1)) is a common pattern to extract everything after a space.
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