REGEXEXTRACT in Google Sheets, Pull Text
By Szabó Gergő · Updated
REGEXEXTRACT returns the first match of a regular expression. Excel does not use this name. Wrap misses with IFNA.
Syntax and arguments
=REGEXEXTRACT(text, regular_expression)- text
- Cell or string that holds the source.
- regular_expression
- RE2 pattern. Parentheses mark the group you want.
REGEXEXTRACT examples
Email in A2.
=REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"@(.+)")Returns the part after @. Pair with ARRAYFORMULA to fill a column.
A2 contains INV-1044 somewhere.
=REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"INV-(\d+)")Captures digits after INV-.
A sentence in A2.
=REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"^(\S+)")Returns the first run of non-space characters.
Common mistakes
Expecting every match
REGEXEXTRACT returns one match. Run it twice or clean with REGEXREPLACE.
No fallback on a miss
A failed pattern returns #N/A. Wrap with IFNA.
Excel-only syntax
Older Excel uses MID and FIND. Newer Excel has its own REGEXEXTRACT in some builds.
REGEXEXTRACT FAQ
Does REGEXEXTRACT work in Excel?
Not under this name in older Excel. Microsoft 365 is adding regex functions. MID and FIND still work everywhere.
What happens when nothing matches?
Sheets returns #N/A. Wrap with IFNA or IFERROR.
Can I extract more than one group?
One call returns one match. Use a second REGEXEXTRACT or REGEXREPLACE for cleanup.