How do I combine the first character of a cell with another cell in Excel

Question

First names are listed in Column A of an Excel sheet, while last names are listed in Column B. I want to add the first character from the first name to the surname in a third Column C to form the phrase "first initial + surname."

First Name    Last Name    Combined Name
John          Smith        jsmith

How can I do this using Excel?

Answer 1

Try this:

=CONCATENATE(LEFT(A1,1), B1)