Excel MID Function: pull text from the middle of a cell

MID pulls out a piece of text from the middle of a cell. Tell it where to start and how many characters to take.

The formula

=MID(text, start_position, how_many)

Steps: get the year from an invoice code

1. Codes like INV-2026-0142 in column A.
2. Click B1. Type =MID(A1, 5, 4). Enter.
3. Drag B1 down.

Result: 2026. Counting from 1, the year starts at character 5 and is 4 characters long.

LEFT and RIGHT: the ends

When the position varies

Everything after the first dash, whatever its position:

=MID(A1, FIND("-", A1)+1, 100)

FIND locates the dash; 100 means “up to 100 characters” — plenty.

The result is text, not a number

MID always returns text. To do maths with it, wrap in VALUE: =VALUE(MID(A1,5,4)).

Check it worked

=LEN(A1) tells you how many characters the cell has. Your start + how_many − 1 must not exceed it.

Common mistake

Counting from 0. Excel counts from 1 — the first character is position 1.