Text & Cleanup

Excel formula for Extract text between two characters

Pull out the text sitting between two markers, like inside parentheses.

Copy this formula

=TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE(A2, ")"), "(")

How the formula works

TEXTBEFORE trims everything after the closing marker and TEXTAFTER drops everything up to the opening marker, leaving just the middle. In older Excel, use MID with two FINDs.

Examples

=TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE("Item (SKU-42)", ")"), "(")→SKU-42

Grabs the text inside the parentheses.

Other ways to do this

Legacy (MID + FIND)

=MID(A2, FIND("(",A2)+1, FIND(")",A2)-FIND("(",A2)-1)

Works before TEXTBEFORE/TEXTAFTER existed.

FAQ

What if there are several pairs of brackets?

TEXTBEFORE/TEXTAFTER take an instance number; pass it to target the 2nd or 3rd marker.

Related formulas

Extract the domain from an email address Find the position of a character

Functions used

TEXTBEFORE TEXTAFTER MID FIND

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