.header on create table tbl1 (col1 text primary key); insert into tbl1 values ('123456'); insert into tbl1 values ('abcdef'); insert into tbl1 values ('äöüäöü'); select col1 from tbl1; select substr(col1, 1, 4) as col1 from tbl1; .mode column select col1 from tbl1; .width 4 select col1 from tbl1;