1. What is the MID Function & How Does It Work?
Unlike LEFT (which starts at position 1) and RIGHT (which starts at the end), the MID function allows you to specify any arbitrary starting character position and slice out a slice of text right out of the middle!
Formula Anatomy: The 3 Parameters of MID()
=MID( text , start_num , num_chars )1. TEXT (REQUIRED)
Source Cell Reference
The cell (e.g. A2) containing the raw string.
A2 = "SKU-9842-NYC"2. START_NUM (REQUIRED)
Where to start?
1-based index position of the first character to extract.
5 (Starts at "9")3. NUM_CHARS (REQUIRED)
How many characters?
Number of characters to extract starting from start_num.
4 (Extracts "9842")2. Real-World Analytics Scenarios for MID
🔢 Scenario A: Middle Serial Numbers
Isolate the 4-digit serial number from SKU-9842-NYC.
=MID(A2, 5, 4) ➔ "9842"🌐 Scenario B: Email Domain Parsing
Combine MID with SEARCH("@", A2) to dynamically extract email domain names.
=MID(A2, SEARCH("@", A2)+1, 100)👤 Scenario C: Middle Names / Initials
Extract middle initial from full name strings like Johnathan Q. Public.
=MID(A2, 11, 2) ➔ "Q."🎮 Live Interactive MID Precision Slicer
Type text and adjust start_num & num_chars sliders to watch middle characters glow in real-time!
🔍 Visual Middle Extraction Highlight
Starting at Pos 5 ➔ Extracting 4 characters1
S
2
K
3
U
4
-
5
9
6
8
7
4
8
2
9
-
10
N
11
Y
12
C
MID FORMULA RESULT CELL:"9842"
📊 Generated Excel Formula
=MID(A2, 5, 4)🧪 Knowledge Check — MID Function Quiz
Question 1 of 5Score: 0