REGEXEXTRACT

• How to use REGEXEXTRACT formula?
• Examples of using REGEXEXTRACT formula
• REGEXEXTRACT formula not working?
• Similar formulas to REGEXEXTRACT

Usage

Use the REGEXEXTRACT formula with the syntax shown below, it has 2 required parameters:

=REGEXEXTRACT(text, regular_expression)

1. text (required):
   The text string from which you want to extract a portion of text.
2. regular_expression (required):
   The regular expression used to match the portion of text you want to extract.

Examples

Extracting email addresses

You can use the REGEXEXTRACT formula to extract email addresses from a list of text. For example, if you have a column of text that includes email addresses, you can use a regular expression to extract only the email addresses into a separate column.

Extracting phone numbers

Similar to extracting email addresses, you can use the REGEXEXTRACT formula to extract phone numbers from a list of text. For example, if you have a column of text that includes phone numbers, you can use a regular expression to extract only the phone numbers into a separate column.

Extracting URLs

If you have a list of text that includes URLs, you can use the REGEXEXTRACT formula to extract only the URLs into a separate column. This is useful when you need to analyze or sort URLs separately from other text.

Extracting numbers

You can use the REGEXEXTRACT formula to extract numbers from a list of text. For example, if you have a column of text that includes both numbers and text, you can use a regular expression to extract only the numbers into a separate column.

Common Mistakes

Not using the correct regular expression pattern

One common mistake when using the REGEXEXTRACT function is not using the correct regular expression pattern to match the desired text. Ensure that your regular expression is written correctly and matches the pattern you are trying to extract.

Forgetting to include capturing groups

If you want to extract a specific portion of the matching pattern, you need to include capturing groups in your regular expression. Forgetting to include capturing groups will result in the function returning the entire matching pattern.

Not accounting for case sensitivity

When using the REGEXEXTRACT function, it is important to consider the case sensitivity of your regular expression. If your regular expression is case sensitive and the text string contains uppercase or lowercase characters that do not match, the function will not return a matching pattern.

Related Formulas

The following functions are similar to REGEXEXTRACT or are often used with it in a formula:

• REGEXMATCH

  The REGEXMATCH formula searches for a regular expression pattern within a specified text string, and returns a boolean value of TRUE if the pattern is found, and FALSE if it is not found. This formula is commonly used to check if a string matches a certain pattern or to extract specific information from a text string based on a pattern.

• REGEXREPLACE

  The REGEXREPLACE formula is used to replace a piece of text that matches a regular expression with a new piece of text. This formula is useful when working with text data that needs to be cleaned or manipulated based on specific patterns or rules.

• SPLIT

  The SPLIT formula in Google Sheets is used to split a text string into separate cells based on a delimiter. It is commonly used when you have a large text string that you need to break down into smaller parts. The resulting parts are placed into individual cells, making it easier to work with and analyze the data.

• LEFT

  The LEFT formula is used to extract a specific number of characters from the beginning of a text string. It is most commonly used to extract the first name or last name from a full name or to extract a date from a text string.

• RIGHT

  The RIGHT formula in Google Sheets returns the rightmost characters from a string, based on the number of characters specified. It is commonly used to extract a certain number of characters from the end of a string. The formula takes two arguments: the string from which to extract the characters, and the number of characters to extract.

Learn More

You can learn more about the REGEXEXTRACT Google Sheets function on Google Support.