How to Extract Text or Number by Specific Position in Excel

Excel is a powerful tool that allows you to manipulate and analyze data efficiently. One such manipulation involves extracting text or numbers by a specific position in a cell. This tutorial will guide you through the steps using Excel's MID, LEFT, and RIGHT functions.

1. Extracting Using LEFT Function

The LEFT function is handy when you need to extract a specific number of characters from the beginning of the text:

1. Suppose you have a cell with text and you want to extract the first three characters. The formula would be =LEFT(A1, 3), where A1 is the cell reference.

   Explore the LEFT function on the Microsoft website for more details.

2. Extracting Using RIGHT Function

The RIGHT function works the same way as the LEFT function but extracts from the end of the text:

1. To extract the last three characters from cell A1, you would use =RIGHT(A1, 3).

   Microsoft provides an overview of the RIGHT function.

3. Extracting Using MID Function

The MID function is slightly more complex as it allows you to extract text from the middle of a cell:

1. The formula is =MID(A1, start_num, num_chars), where A1 is the cell reference, start_num is the position of the first character you want to extract, and num_chars is the number of characters to extract.

2. For instance, to extract three characters starting from the second character in cell A1, you would use =MID(A1, 2, 3).

   Check out this in-depth guide on the MID function by Microsoft.

With these simple yet powerful Excel functions, you can efficiently extract text or numbers by specific positions within your cells. This ability opens up numerous possibilities for data cleaning and manipulation, allowing you to get the most out of your data.