Learn the functions and usage of the MID function in Excel with the most detailed examples

Excel's MID function is incredibly easy to use, and if you know how to use it correctly, it can save you a lot of time in your work and studies. To help you better understand the MID function, FPT Shop will explain its usage along with detailed examples in the following article.

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Functions in Excel assist users in working more quickly and easily on computers. In today’s article, FPT Shop will guide you on how to use the MID function, one of the most commonly used functions in Excel, along with detailed examples.

Function of the MID function in Excel

The MID function is one of the common functions in Excel used to extract a part of the data in a specified character string.

MID function figure 1

The MID function in Excel has the following formula: MID (Text, Start_num, Num_chars)

Where:

  • Text: The character string or cell containing the character string you want to extract a part of the data from. If it is a character string, it needs to be enclosed in double quotation marks, for example: “FPT Shop”.
  • Start_num: The position of the starting character to extract.
  • Num_chars: The number of characters to be extracted.

Note: In some versions of Excel, the comma “,” is replaced by a semicolon “;” in the formula of functions. Therefore, if you use a comma “,” and Excel displays an error, try changing it to a semicolon “;” immediately.

Common uses of the MID function

Basic data separation

Usually, the naming convention and total number of characters of product codes, orders, or customers are specific to each business. These codes often contain both letters and numbers, each part having its own meaning. For example, cell B5 contains information about a customer with the code 0123 who belongs to consumer group A. To extract the code 0123 from the given string, you can use the following formula: =MID(B5,3,4). This is a basic example of using the MID function, which can be applied in many cases where data separation is needed in a simple way.

MID function figure 2

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Frequently asked questions

The MID function is used to extract a specific number of characters from a text string, starting at a position you specify. It’s particularly useful when you need to isolate a segment of text from a larger string, such as extracting initials, codes, or specific words from a longer sentence or cell value.

The syntax for the MID function is: MID(text, start_num, num_chars). Where ‘text’ is the source from which you want to extract characters, ‘start_num’ is the position of the first character you want to extract, and ‘num_chars’ is the number of characters you want to extract. For example, if cell A1 contains the text ‘Excel MID Function’, the formula =MID(A1, 8, 6) would return ‘Function’ by extracting 6 characters starting from position 8.

Yes, the MID function can be combined with other functions to work dynamically. For instance, if you want to extract a specific number of characters from a range of cells based on a certain condition, you can use MID with functions like INDEX, MATCH, or OFFSET. This allows you to create flexible formulas that adapt to changing data.

To extract the first word from a sentence, you can use MID in combination with the FIND function to locate the position of the first space in the sentence. For example, if cell A1 contains the sentence ‘Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program’, the formula =MID(A1, 1, FIND(‘ ‘, A1)-1) would return ‘Excel’ by extracting characters from the beginning of the sentence up to the first space.

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