identifying pairs in long list

[adjustment]

Hi gang,

I have a new problem that I can't seem to wrap my head around. I have a list of thousands of IDs for specific products. Some match up to six characters and then have a suffix:

Example

1233
1234AB
1234AB-LL
1235

I need to identify when the pairs that share the first characters.

Yikes, am I making sense? There is only one row.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Adj

 

[adjustment]

Oh no - I feel so neglected. Did I ask this in the wrong way? Is it embarrassingly simple & I am missing it?

 

[baitmaster]

with your 4 values in A1:A4, type the following in B1 and hit Shift + Ctrl + Enter instead of just Enter, to create an array formula. Drag this down:
=SUM(IF(LEFT($A$1:$A$4,4)=LEFT(A1,4),1,0))

 

[adjustment]

Thanks! I'll give it a try.