The T function in Google Sheets returns text, an empty string, or an error, depending on the value in a cell.

If the cell contains:

• Text → Returns the text itself
• A numeric value (such as a number, date, or time) → Returns an empty string ("")
• An error → Returns the error

You can use the T function with FILTER to extract only text values from a column or row.

Syntax

T(value)

• value – The cell reference containing the value.
• If you specify a range, use it with ARRAYFORMULA.
• If you use the T function within FILTER, SORT, SORTN, INDEX, or SUMPRODUCT, you can omit ARRAYFORMULA.

Function T – Examples

=T(A1) // Returns "Apple" if A1 contains "Apple"

• If A1 contains a numeric value, it returns an empty string ("").
• If A1 contains an error, it returns the error itself.

Extract Text Using Function T and How It Differs from ISTEXT + IF

Assume you have mixed data in column A (A1:A10) and want to extract only text values.

In cell B1, you can use one of the following formulas and drag it down:

=T(A1)

or

=IF(ISTEXT(A1), A1,)

Alternatively, apply them as array formulas in B1 alone:

=ARRAYFORMULA(T(A1:A10))

=ARRAYFORMULA(IF(ISTEXT(A1:A10), A1:A10,))

Key Differences

Filter Text Only

To filter only text values from the range A1:A10, you can use the T function with FILTER:

=FILTER(A1:A10, T(A1:A10)<>"")

Alternatively, you can use the ISTEXT function with FILTER:

=FILTER(A1:A10, ISTEXT(A1:A10))

Both formulas return only the text values while excluding numbers, dates, and empty cells.

Resources

• Filter Rows with Text in All Columns in Google Sheets
• Extract All Numbers from Text and Sum Them in Google Sheets
• Extract Different Text Strings from a Cell in Google Sheets
• Extract Formula from a Cell as a Text in Google Sheets
• How to Extract Negative Numbers from Text Strings in Google Sheets
• Excel Formula to Extract All Rows Between Two Texts in a Column
• How to Extract Numbers from Text in Excel with Regex