Excel MID Function
Summary
The Excel MID function extracts a given number of characters from the middle of a supplied text string. For example, =MID("apple",2,3) returns "ppl".
Purpose
Extract text from inside a string
Return value
The characters extracted.
Syntax
=MID (text, start_num, num_chars)
Arguments
- text - The text to extract from.
- start_num - The location of the first character to extract.
- num_chars - The number of characters to extract.
Version
Usage notes
- MID returns a specific number of characters from a text string, starting at start_num and continuing through start_num + num_chars.
- Use the MID function when you want to extract text from inside a text string, based on location and length.
- You can use FIND or SEARCH to locate start_num when you don't know the location in advance.
MID formula examples
Assuming you have a full name in column B, a first name in column C, and a last name in column D, you can use a formula that looks like this:
=TRIM(MID(B5,LEN(C5)+1,LEN(B5)-LEN(C5&D5)))
At the core, the MID...
The 1st dimension
To get the first dimension, we are using this formula in C4:
=LEFT(B4,FIND("x",B4)-1)
This works by extracting text starting at the LEFT. The number of characters is calculated by...
At the core, this formula looks for a line delimiter ("delim") and replaces it with a large number of spaces using the SUBSTITUTE and REPT functions.
Note: In older versions of Excel on a Mac, use CHAR(13) instead of...
The core of this formula is the DATE function, which is used to assemble a proper Excel date value. The DATE function requires valid year, month, and day values, so these are parsed out of the original text string as...
The foundation of this formula is the MID function, which extracts a specific number of characters from text, starting at a specific location. To figure out where to start extracting text, we use this expression:...
The DATE function creates a valid date using three arguments: year, month, and day:
=DATE(year,month,day)
In cell C6, we use the LEFT, MID, and RIGHT functions to extract each of these components from a text string...
The MATCH function has a limit of 255 characters for the lookup value. If you try to use longer text, MATCH will return a #VALUE error.
To workaround this limit you can use boolean logic and the LEFT, MID, and EXACT...
Working from the inside out, the MID function is used to generate an array from text entered in B5 with this snippet:
MID(B5,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(B5))),1)
explained in detail here. The result is an...
The gist of this formula is to replace a given delimiter with a large number of spaces using SUBSTITUTE and REPT, then use the MID function to extract text related to the "nth occurrence" and the TRIM function to get...
The CELL function is used to get the full file name and path:
CELL("filename",A1)
The result looks like this:
path[workbook.xlsm]sheetname
CELL returns this result to the MID function as the text...
First, note that the cells in F5:F13 are formatted as Text prior to entry. This allows the times to contain leading zeros like "083000". Alternately, you can enter these time strings with a single quote at the start...
To get the third character from a string in A1, you can use the MID function like this:
=MID(A1,3,1)
The first argument is a cell reference, the second argument specifies the start number, and the third argument...
Working from the inside out, the LEN function calculates the length of the string, and this is joined by concatenation to "1:", creating a text range like this: "1:3"
This text is passed into INDIRECT, which evaluates...
The formula first uses the ISNUMBER function to test if the value is a number, and applies a simple logical if so:
=IF(ISNUMBER(B4)
For any number less than the value in "input", the formula will return TRUE and the...
Sometimes you encounter data that mixes units directly with numbers (i.e. 8km, 12v, 7.5hrs). Unfortunately, Excel will treat the numbers in this format as text, and you won't be able to perform math operations on such...
Related functions
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