Need to extract a specific part of text in a cell? The MID function is your answer.

In spreadsheet tasks, you often need to extract part of a text—for example, pulling out the birthdate from a social security number or getting the middle digits from a product code. That’s where the MID function comes in handy.

🔍 What is the MID Function?

The MID function extracts a specified number of characters from a string, starting at a given position.

This function is available in both Excel and Google Sheets and is commonly used for text manipulation.

📘 Function Syntax

MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

• text: The target string or cell
• start_num: The position to start extracting from (starting at 1)
• num_chars: The number of characters to extract

✨ Example 1: Extracting a birthdate from a social security number

Extracts the first 6 digits—typically the birthdate portion.

✨ Example 2: Extracting category from a product code

Pulls 3 characters starting from the 5th—middle category code.

✨ Example 3: Extracting fixed format text segments

If the structure is consistent, MID can grab exactly the part you need.

✨ Example 4: Extracting part of the tail end of a string

Grabs 3 characters from the 10th position—useful for slicing long text.

🧩 Practical Tips

• Combine MID with functions like FIND, SUBSTITUTE, or LEN for dynamic slicing.
• For flexible text positions, MID is more powerful than LEFT or RIGHT.
• Ideal for structured data like order numbers, product codes, or formatted identifiers.

✅ Summary