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RIGHT

The RIGHT formula in Google Sheets returns the rightmost characters from a string, based on the number of characters specified. It is commonly used to extract a certain number of characters from the end of a string. The formula takes two arguments: the string from which to extract the characters, and the number of characters to extract.

Usage

Use the RIGHT formula with the syntax shown below, it has 1 required parameter and 1 optional parameter:

=RIGHT(string, [number_of_characters])
Parameters:
  1. string (required):
    The string from which to extract characters. It can be a cell reference or a text string enclosed in quotes.
  2. number_of_characters (optional):
    The number of characters to extract from the rightmost part of the string. If omitted, the function returns the entire string.

Examples

Here are a few example use cases that explain how to use the RIGHT formula in Google Sheets.

Extracting file extensions

If you have a list of filenames in a spreadsheet and want to extract the file extensions, you can use the RIGHT formula to extract the characters after the last dot in the filename.

Extracting last names

If you have a list of names in a spreadsheet and want to extract the last names, which are usually at the end of the string, you can use the RIGHT formula to extract a certain number of characters from the right.

Extracting last characters

If you have a list of values in a spreadsheet and want to extract the last few characters from each value, you can use the RIGHT formula to extract a certain number of characters from the right.

Common Mistakes

RIGHT not working? Here are some common mistakes people make when using the RIGHT Google Sheets Formula:

Forgetting to specify the text string argument

One common mistake is forgetting to specify the text string argument in the RIGHT function. This can result in a #VALUE! error.

Specifying a negative value for the number of characters argument

Another common mistake is specifying a negative value for the number of characters argument. This can result in a #VALUE! error.

Specifying a number of characters greater than the length of the text string

If you specify a number of characters argument that is greater than the length of the text string, the RIGHT function will return the entire text string without producing an error. However, this is unlikely to be the desired result.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to RIGHT or are often used with it in a formula:

  • LEFT

    The LEFT formula is used to extract a specific number of characters from the beginning of a text string. It is most commonly used to extract the first name or last name from a full name or to extract a date from a text string.

  • MID

    The MID formula in Google Sheets is used to extract a specific number of characters from a string, starting at a specified point. This is useful when working with large datasets and you only need a portion of the information in a cell. The formula takes in the string to extract from, the starting point, and the length of characters to extract as arguments.

  • LEN

    The LEN formula in Google Sheets is used to count the number of characters in a given text string. It is commonly used to check the length of text inputs, or to find the length of a cell value or range.

  • FIND

    The FIND formula in Google Sheets searches for a specific text within another text and returns the position of the first occurrence of the text. This formula is often used to extract a substring from a larger string or to check if a certain text exists within another text.

Learn More

You can learn more about the RIGHT Google Sheets function on Google Support.