MID Function in Excel

In this blog post we will learn about MID function in excel. MID function returns number of characters from middle of the text string, given starting position and text length.

Where to find MID function on Excel Screen:

MID function can be found under “Text Function” category under “Formula Tab” as shown in below image:

Once we click on “Text” category, we can see list of various Text Functions available in excel. MID function is highlighted in red in below image.

Once we click on MID option as highlighted above, we will get the function argument dialog box as shown in below image:

Syntax of MID Function:

The Syntax of MID function is as below:

=MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

Arguments of MID Function:

To use the MID function we have to use 03 arguments:

Text: In this, we have to select the text from which we have to extract the characters.

Start Num: It is position of first character you want to extract. The first character in text is 1.

Num_chars: Specifies how many characters to return from selected text.

Example of MID Function:

Let’s learn about using this function with the help of simple example. We have listed Employee ID in column A as shown in below image.

Now, we want to extract 4 characters after first “-” from each Employee ID. To do this we can use MID function.

For this, select the cell in which we want to extract desired 04 characters. In this case we have selected cell “B2”. In cell B2 enter formula as shown in below image.

Once we hit enter button, we can see that first 4 characters are now extracted in cell “B2”.

We have to just copy and paste this formula in below cells to get desired result.

In this way, we can use MID function in excel.