---
title: "Use the MID Function to Extract Characters from a Specific Position"
slug: "mid-function"
description: "Learn to apply the MID function in Pigment to extract a specific number of characters from any text field, starting at your chosen position."
updated: 2025-05-30T09:42:19Z
published: 2025-08-22T10:57:28Z
canonical: "kb.pigment.com/mid-function"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.pigment.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# MID function

## ​​​Description

Extracts a given number of characters from a Text, starting at a given position.

## Syntax

`MID(Text to Extract, Starting Position, Number of Characters)`

## Arguments

| Argument | Type | Dimensions | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| *Text to Extract* (required) | Text | Any Dimensions | Text to extract characters from. |
| *Starting Position* (required) | Integer | No Dimension or Dimensions of *Text to Extract* | Starting position of Text to Extract to extract characters from. |
| *Number of Characters* (required) | Integer | No Dimension or Dimensions of *Text to Extract* | Number of characters to extract from the *Starting Position*. |

## Returns

| Type | Dimensions |
| --- | --- |
| Text | Dimensions of *Text to Extract* |

Extracted characters from *Text to Extract*.

`BLANK` if *Starting Position* is a negative integer or 0.

`BLANK` if *Number of Characters* is a negative integer.

## Examples

| Formula | Result | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `MID(“abc”, 3, 1)` | “c” | Starting from the third character, one character is extracted. |
| `MID(“abcde”, 2, 3)` | “bcd” | Starting from the second character “b”, the next three characters are extracted. |
| `MID(“a”, -1, 1)` | `BLANK` | The *Starting Position*, -1, is invalid. |
| `MID(“a”, 1, -1)` | `BLANK` | The *Number of Characters*, -1, is invalid. |

## See also

Excel: [MID](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/mid-midb-functions-d5f9e25c-d7d6-472e-b568-4ecb12433028)

Related articles: [RIGHT](/v1/docs/right-function), [LEFT](/v1/docs/left-function)

> [!TIP]
> More of a hands-on learner?
> 
> Talk to your Customer Success Manager about downloading the Functions and Modifiers in Pigment Application into your workspace. It includes examples of every formula and modifier in Pigment!

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