MID

Text

Returns a specific number of characters from a text string, starting at a position you specify.

Translations

EnglishMID

FrenchSTXT

SpanishEXTRAE

GermanTEIL

ItalianSTRINGA.ESTRAI

PortugueseEXT.TEXTO

DutchDEEL

PolishFRAGMENT.TEKSTU

RussianПСТР

TurkishPARÇAAL

CzechČÁST

HungarianKÖZÉP

SwedishEXTEXT

DanishMELLEMTEGN

FinnishPOIMI.TEKSTI

Syntax

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

Arguments

textThe text string
start_numPosition to start (first character is 1)
num_charsNumber of characters to extract

Examples

=MID("Hello World",7,5)

World

Starts at position 7, takes 5 chars

=MID(A1,2,3)

3 chars from pos 2

Extracts from position 2

=MID("ABC-123-XYZ",5,3)

123

Extracts the middle part

Tips & Best Practices

•First character is position 1, not 0
•Returns empty if start_num exceeds text length
•Use with FIND to locate the start position

Common Mistakes

•Miscounting the starting position - MID starts counting from 1, not 0, so off-by-one errors are common
•Using a fixed length when the segment being extracted actually varies from row to row
•Forgetting MID returns text, so a numeric substring still needs VALUE() before you can do math with it

Related Functions

LEFTPulls characters from the very start of the text, no starting position needed

RIGHTPulls characters from the very end of the text

FINDFinds a character's position, useful for calculating MID's start or length dynamically

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I extract text between two characters, like parentheses?

Use FIND to locate both characters and calculate the length: =MID(A1,FIND("(",A1)+1,FIND(")",A1)-FIND("(",A1)-1).

What happens if the length I specify goes past the end of the text?

MID just returns whatever characters are available up to the end - it won't throw an error.

Can MID handle a variable start position?

Yes - the start_num argument can be any formula, like FIND() or SEARCH(), not just a fixed number.

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