Excel How to copy first 5 numbers from one column to another in excel

[lovetospin66]

I am trying to copy only the first 5 digits from one column into another. have seen many posts saying to use
=LEFT(b1,5) in column c
I have tried this and it returns nothing - i only see the formula in the fx box? what am i missing - have 16,000 lines to copy only 5 of 7 digits.
Help

 

[Stoneboysteve]

If it returns nothing, check to make sure the column source is formatted as a strong, number, or text, and that it does not have leading blank characters.

 

[spanna]

are you typing this

=LEFT(b1,5)

do you have data in cell b1 ? if not replace b1 with the cell number with data in

Works for me in excel 2010 - what version are you using ?

 

[alow]

What are you seeing in the actual cell? If you are seeing the formula in the cell, it's because the cell was formatted as text before you put the formula in. What you would need to do in that case is delete the contents of the cells with the LEFT formula, then highlight them and format them as General. Now try entering the formula again and see what you get.