What is the MID function in Excel?
The MID function is one of the (TEXT) functions of Excel. It returns the characters from the
middle of a text string, given a starting position and length.
We can find this function in TEXT of insert function Tab.
How to use MID function in excel
- Click on empty cell (like F5 )
2. Click on fx on the below of font word (or press shift+F3)
3. In insert function tab you will see all functions
4. Select TEXT category
5. Select MID function
6. Then select ok
7. In function arguments Tab you will see MID function
8. Text is the text string from which you want to extract the characters
9. Start_ num is the position of the first character you want to extract. The first character in Text is 1
10. Num_chars specifies how many characters to return from Text
11. You will see the results in formula result section
Examples of MID function in Excel
Sure, here are 10 examples of how you can use the MID function in Excel:
- Extract the first three characters of a string: =MID(A1,1,3)
- Extract the last four characters of a string: =MID(A1,LEN(A1)-3,4)
- Extract text between two specific characters: =MID(A1,FIND(“start”,A1)+LEN(“start”),FIND(“end”,A1)-FIND(“start”,A1)-LEN(“end”))
- Extract a portion of text from the middle of a sentence: =MID(A1,FIND(” “,A1)+1,LEN(A1)-FIND(” “,A1)-LEN(“of”))
- Extract a variable number of characters from a string: =MID(A1,SEARCH(“-“,A1)+1,LEN(A1)-SEARCH(“-“,A1))
- Extract the second to fifth characters of a string: =MID(A1,2,4)
- Extract the last two characters of each cell in a range: =MID(A1,LEN(A1)-1,2)
- Extract the first word from a string: =MID(A1,1,FIND(” “,A1)-1)
- Extract the last word from a string: =MID(A1,FIND(“|”,SUBSTITUTE(A1,” “,”|”,LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,” “,””))))+1,LEN(A1))
- Extract a portion of text from a string based on a lookup value: =MID(INDEX(B:B,MATCH(A1,A:A,0)),FIND(“:”,INDEX(B:B,MATCH(A1,A:A,0)))+1,LEN(INDEX(B:B,MATCH(A1,A:A,0)))
What is the purpose of MID function?
It returns the characters from the middle of a text string, given a starting position and length.
What is the Return value of MID function?
It can return any type of data.The following formula is used for MID value:
MID (text,Start_ num,Num_chars)=number,text,...How many arguments does MID function have?
MID (text,Start_ num,Num_chars)
REPLACE function has 3 argument.
Text is the text string that contains the characters you want to extract.
Start_ num is the position of the first character you want to extract. The first character is1.
Num_chars specifies how many characters to return from Text.
New text is the text that will replace characters in Old text.
Which version of excel supports MID function?
This function is available for all excel versions (2003-2019)
Errors in MID function
This function has NO error.
What questions does the MID function answer?
Is mid a text function?
What is middle in Excel?
How do I extract middle text in Excel?
Why is mid used?
Is Mid and Substr same?
How do you use left right and mid in Excel?
How do I extract part of a cell in Excel?
How do you extract data from the middle of a cell?
What is the difference between left right and mid function?
How do I pull middle characters in Excel?
How do I extract only some data from a cell in Excel?
What does the MID function do?
Sure, I’d be happy to explain the MID function in detail.
The MID function is an Excel text function that is used to extract a substring from a larger string. It stands for “middle”, which reflects its primary purpose of extracting characters from the middle of a string. The syntax of the function is as follows:
=MID(text, start_num, num_chars)
Where:
- Text: The text string from which you wish to extract a substring.
- Start_num: The position in the text string from which to start extracting characters.
- Num_chars: The number of characters to extract from the specified start position.
Here’s an example to illustrate how the MID function works:
Suppose you have the following text string in cell A1: “Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis”
If you want to extract the word “powerful” from this string, which starts at the 14th character and is 8 characters long, you can use the MID function as follows:
=MID(A1, 14, 8)
This will return the word “powerful” as a result. The formula takes the original text string in cell A1 and extracts the 8 characters starting from the 14th position, producing the desired result.
The MID function is particularly useful when working with large amounts of text data, where you may need to isolate specific pieces of information from within longer strings. Here are a few more examples of how you can use the MID function to extract substrings from text:
- Extract first name from full name Suppose you have a list of full names in column A and you want to extract only the first name into column B. You can use the following formula in cell B1 to achieve this:
=MID(A1,1,FIND(” “,A1)-1)
This formula looks for the first space character in the text string in cell A1 and extracts all the characters from position 1 up to one character before the first space.
- Extract last name from full name In a similar way, you can use the MID function to extract the last name from a full name in cell A1. Here’s an example formula:
=MID(A1,FIND(” “,A1)+1,LEN(A1)-FIND(” “,A1))
This formula looks for the first space character in the text string, adds 1 to that position (to start after the first space) and then extracts all the remaining characters in the text string.
- Extract parts of a date Suppose you have a list of dates in column A in the format “dd/mm/yyyy”. You can use the MID function to extract different parts of the date, such as the day, month or year. Here are some examples:
- Day: =MID(A1,1,2)
- Month: =MID(A1,4,2)
- Year: =MID(A1,7,4)
These formulas take the original date string and extract the relevant characters to produce the desired result.
Overall, the MID function is a powerful tool for working with text data in Excel, allowing you to quickly and easily extract substrings from longer strings based on their position and length.
How can I use the MID function to extract the first three characters of a string?
Certainly, I’d be happy to explain how you can use the MID function in Excel to extract the first three characters of a string.
To extract the first three characters of a string using the MID function, you need to specify the starting position as 1 (since you want to start at the beginning of the string), and then specify the number of characters to extract as 3.
Here’s the formula you can use:
=MID(text, 1, 3)
Where “text” is the cell reference or text string that contains the original string you want to extract from.
For example, let’s say you have the following text string in cell A1: “Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis”
To extract the first three characters (“Exc”) from this string using the MID function, you would use the following formula in another cell:
=MID(A1, 1, 3)
The result of this formula would be “Exc”, which represents the first three characters of the original string.
You can also use the MID function to extract the first three characters of a string stored in a named range. For example, if you have named the range containing the string as “myString”, you can use the following formula:
=MID(myString, 1, 3)
This will extract the first three characters of the string in the named range “myString”.
In summary, the MID function in Excel provides a simple way to extract specific substrings from a larger text string. Using the function with the parameters “text, 1, 3” allows you to easily extract the first three characters of a string.
How can I use the MID function to extract the last four characters of a string?
Sure, I’d be happy to explain how you can use the MID function in Excel to extract the last four characters of a string.
To extract the last four characters of a string using the MID function, you need to determine the starting position from which to extract the substring. To do this, you can use the LEN function to calculate the length of the original string and subtract 3 (since you want to extract the last four characters).
Here’s the formula you can use:
=MID(text, LEN(text)-3, 4)
Where “text” is the cell reference or text string that contains the original string you want to extract from.
For example, let’s say you have the following text string in cell A1: “Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis”
To extract the last four characters (“lysis”) from this string using the MID function, you would use the following formula:
=MID(A1, LEN(A1)-3, 4)
The result of this formula would be “lysi”, which represents the last four characters of the original string.
You can also use the MID function to extract the last four characters of a string stored in a named range. For example, if you have named the range containing the string as “myString”, you can use the following formula:
=MID(myString, LEN(myString)-3, 4)
This will extract the last four characters of the string in the named range “myString”.
In summary, the MID function in Excel provides a simple way to extract specific substrings from a larger text string. Using the function with the parameters “text, LEN(text)-3, 4” allows you to easily extract the last four characters of a string.
Can the MID function be used to extract text between two specific characters?
Yes, the MID function in Excel can be used to extract text between two specific characters. To do this, you need to use a combination of functions in your formula, including the MID function along with the FIND or SEARCH function.
Here’s how you can use the MID function to extract text between two specific characters:
- Find the position of the first character: To begin, you need to find the position of the first character that marks the beginning of the substring you want to extract. You can do this using either the FIND or the SEARCH function. These functions both search for a specific character or string within another text string, and return the position of the first instance of that character or string.
For example, let’s say you have the following text string in cell A1: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. And suppose you want to extract the text between the words “quick” and “fox”. You can use the FIND or SEARCH function to determine the position of the first character (“q”) in the word “quick”, like this:
=FIND(“quick”,A1)+LEN(“quick”)
The result of this formula would be 10, which represents the position of the first character of the word “fox” (i.e., the character immediately following the word “quick”).
- Find the position of the second character: Next, you need to find the position of the second character that marks the end of the substring you want to extract. In our example, the second character is the space character (” “), immediately following the word “fox”. You can use the FIND or SEARCH function again to determine the position of this character:
=FIND(” “,A1,FIND(“quick”,A1)+LEN(“quick”))
The result of this formula would be 14, which represents the position of the space character following the word “fox”.
- Extract the text between the two characters: Finally, you can use the MID function to extract the text between the two characters you identified in steps 1 and 2. Here’s the formula:
=MID(A1,FIND(“quick”,A1)+LEN(“quick”),FIND(” “,A1,FIND(“quick”,A1)+LEN(“quick”))-(FIND(“quick”,A1)+LEN(“quick”)))
The result of this formula would be “brown”.
In summary, the MID function in Excel can be used to extract text between two specific characters by using the FIND or SEARCH function to determine the positions of those characters, and then using the MID function to extract the substring between them.
How can I use the MID function to extract characters from the middle of a string?
Sure, I can explain how to use the MID function in Excel to extract characters from the middle of a string.
The MID function is used to extract a substring from within a larger text string. The syntax for the MID function is as follows:
=MID(text, start_num, num_chars)
Here, “text” refers to the original string from which you want to extract a substring. “Start_num” refers to the position of the first character that you want to extract, and “num_chars” refers to the number of characters that you want to extract.
For example, let’s say you have the following text string in cell A1: “Hello World”. If you want to extract the word “World” from this string, you can use the MID function as follows:
=MID(A1, 7, 5)
Here, the “start_num” argument is 7 because the letter “W” starts at the seventh position in the string (counting spaces). The “num_chars” argument is 5 because “World” has five characters.
Another example could be if you have the following text string in cell A2: “John Doe – Sales Manager”. You can extract just the employee’s name “John Doe” by using the MID function as follows:
=MID(A2, 1, FIND(” – “,A2)-1)
In this case, the “start_num” argument is 1 because we want to start at the beginning of the string. The “num_chars” argument is calculated by finding the position of the ” – ” string using the FIND function, and then subtracting 1 to exclude the space before the hyphen.
So, these are some examples of how you can use the MID function to extract characters from the middle of a string in Excel.
Does the MID function change the original string?
No, the MID function does not change the original string. Instead, it extracts a substring from within the larger text string and returns a new string as the result.
For example, let’s say you have the following text string in cell A1: “Hello World”. If you want to extract the word “World” from this string using the MID function, you can use the following formula:
=MID(A1, 7, 5)
The result of this formula would be “World”, which is a new string that has been extracted from the original string. The original string remains unchanged and still contains “Hello World”.
It’s important to note that any changes made to the result of the MID function will not affect the original string. For example, if you were to modify the result of the above formula and change “World” to “Universe”, the original string would still be “Hello World”.
In summary, the MID function does not change the original string, but rather extracts a substring from it and returns a new string as the result.
How can I use the MID function to extract a portion of text from the middle of a sentence?
Sure, I can explain how to use the MID function in Excel to extract a portion of text from the middle of a sentence.
The MID function is used to extract a substring from within a larger text string. To extract a portion of text from the middle of a sentence, you need to specify the starting position and the number of characters to be extracted.
Let’s say you have the following sentence in cell A1: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” You want to extract the word “brown” from this sentence, which appears after the word “quick” and before the word “fox”.
To do this, you would use the MID function as follows:
=MID(A1, 10, 5)
In this formula, the first argument “A1” refers to the original sentence. The second argument “10” is the starting position of the word “brown”. The number 10 is calculated by adding the length of the word “quick” (which is 5) to the position of the space that follows it (which is also 5). So, the starting position for the word “brown” is at character 10.
The third argument “5” is the number of characters to be extracted, which corresponds to the length of the word “brown”.
When you enter this formula, the result will be the word “brown”, which has been extracted from the middle of the sentence.
You can also use other functions like FIND or SEARCH along with MID function to extract a portion of text from a sentence based on certain criteria or patterns. For example, if you want to extract all the words between two specific words in a sentence, you can use the combination of FIND, MID, and LEN functions.
So, this is how you can use the MID function to extract a portion of text from the middle of a sentence in Excel.
Can the MID function be used with non-text values?
No, the MID function cannot be used with non-text values. The MID function is specifically designed to work with text strings and cannot be used with other data types like numbers or dates.
If you try to use the MID function with a non-text value, Excel will throw a #VALUE! error.
For example, if you have the number 12345 in cell A1 and you try to extract the middle three digits using the MID function like this:
=MID(A1, 2, 3)
Excel will return a #VALUE! error because the MID function cannot be used with numeric values.
To extract a portion of a number, you can convert it to a text string first using the TEXT function, and then apply the MID function. For example, to extract the middle three digits from the number 12345, you could use the following formula:
=MID(TEXT(A1,”0″), 2, 3)
Here, the TEXT function converts the number 12345 to a text string “12345”, which is then used as the first argument for the MID function.
So, while the MID function is primarily used with text values, it can also be used with numeric values by converting them to text strings first using the TEXT function.
How can I use the MID function to extract a variable number of characters from a string?
Sure, I can explain how to use the MID function in Excel to extract a variable number of characters from a string.
To extract a variable number of characters from a string using the MID function, you need to calculate the starting position and the number of characters to extract using other formulas or functions.
For example, let’s say you have a string in cell A1 that contains a name followed by an ID number, separated by a hyphen (“-“). The length of the name and the ID number can vary, but the hyphen is always present. You want to extract the ID number from this string.
Here’s one way to do it:
- Use the FIND function to locate the position of the hyphen in the string: =FIND(“-“,A1)
This formula will return the position of the hyphen in the string. For example, if the string is “John Smith – 12345”, the result would be 11.
- Add 1 to the result of the FIND function to get the starting position of the ID number: =FIND(“-“,A1)+1
This formula will return the position immediately after the hyphen. For example, if the string is “John Smith – 12345”, the result would be 12.
- Subtract the result of step 2 from the total length of the string to get the number of characters in the ID number: =LEN(A1)-(FIND(“-“,A1)+1)+1
This formula subtracts the starting position of the ID number (found in step 2) from the total length of the string, then adds 1 to account for the hyphen. For example, if the string is “John Smith – 12345”, the result would be 5.
- Use the MID function to extract the ID number: =MID(A1,FIND(“-“,A1)+1,LEN(A1)-(FIND(“-“,A1)+1)+1)
This formula combines the formulas from steps 2 and 3 to extract the ID number from the string. The result will be “12345” for the example string.
So, this is how you can use the MID function in combination with other functions to extract a variable number of characters from a string in Excel.
