SQL Server LTRIM() Function

The SQL Server (Transact-SQL) LTRIM() function removes all space characters from the left-hand side of a string.

Syntax

LTRIM(string)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the trimmed version of the specified string.

Example 1:

The example below shows the usage of LTRIM() function.

SELECT LTRIM('  SQL Tutorial');
Result: 'SQL Tutorial'

SELECT LTRIM('  SQL Tutorial    ');
Result: 'SQL Tutorial    '

SELECT LTRIM('  Learning  SQL  is  fun.');
Result: 'Learning  SQL  is  fun.'

SELECT LTRIM('  Learning  SQL  is  fun.    ');
Result: 'Learning  SQL  is  fun.    '

Example 2:

Consider a database table called Employee. When the following INSERT statements are executed, the Name column will contain records with leading spaces.

INSERT INTO Employee VALUES ('        John', 'London', 3000);
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES ('        Marry', 'New York', 2750);
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES ('      Jo', 'Paris', 2800);
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES ('      Kim', 'Amsterdam', 3100);

-- see the result
SELECT * FROM Employee;

The query will produce the following result:

To remove the leading spaces from the Name column of the Employee table, the following query can be used:

UPDATE Employee SET Name = LTRIM(Name);

-- see the result
SELECT * FROM Employee;

This will produce the following result: