title: Excel formula to match first 3 digits in 2 columns
body: <p>I have 2 columns of numbers in Excel.  I want to match first 3 digits of column A with the first 3 numbers of column B and if they are the same, in column C I need to fill in the data <code>same</code> if not then <code>not same</code>. I have a list of 16 thousand entries in Excel and need a quick way to figure this out.</p>
  
  <p>eg.</p>
  
  <pre><code>A1: 810123 B1: 810567 then column c should say "same" because the first 3 numbers match.
  A2: 801123 B2: 803123 then column c should say "notsame" because the first 3 numbers do not match.
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Thank you for your help.</p>