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.

=TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE("[email protected]", "."), "@")→example

Returns the part of an email address between the @ and the dot.

=MID("[A-17] Bolt", 2, FIND("]", "[A-17] Bolt")-2)→A-17

Works in every Excel version when the text starts with the opening bracket.

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.

What if one of the characters is missing?

TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER return #N/A. Wrap the formula in IFERROR: =IFERROR(TEXTAFTER(TEXTBEFORE(A2, ")"), "("), "").

How do I extract text between two identical characters?

Nest the two functions the other way round: =TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2, "-"), "-") returns the text between the first and second hyphen.

Which Excel versions have TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER?

Excel for Microsoft 365, Excel 2024 and Excel for the web. In Excel 2021 and earlier use the MID and FIND version.

Related formulas

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

Functions used

TEXTBEFORE TEXTAFTER MID FIND

Need a formula for your own data?

Describe what you want in plain language and let ExcelGPT write, explain, and verify the formula — free to start, no plugin.

Try ExcelGPT free