Spreadsheet Practice

How to extract text between parentheses in Excel

Excel formula

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

Take what follows "(" and stops at ")": =IFERROR(TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"("),")"),""). IFERROR leaves rows without brackets blank.

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B7
Works in
Microsoft 365 only
Google Sheets
Different formula, see below

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

TEXTAFTER returns everything after the first "(" and TEXTBEFORE keeps everything before the next ")". Text after the closing bracket, like "- 140 cm", is dropped. "USB-C dock" has no brackets, so the formula errors and IFERROR shows a blank.

In Google Sheets, \(([^)]*)\) matches a bracket, then captures the characters that aren't a closing bracket.

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

Result"Black"

  1. A2"Desk lamp (Black)"

    The value in A2.

  2. TEXTAFTER(A2,"(")"Black)"

    TEXTAFTER: Text after a delimiter.

    • textA2"Desk lamp (Black)"
    • delimiter"("
  3. TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"("),")")"Black"

    TEXTBEFORE: Text before a delimiter.

    • textTEXTAFTER(A2,"(")"Black)"
    • delimiter")"
  4. IFERROR(TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"("),")"),"")"Black"

    IFERROR: Returns a fallback when the value is any error.

    • valueTEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"("),")")"Black"
    • value_if_error""not used

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets needs a different formula: =IFERROR(REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"\(([^)]*)\)"),""). On the same data it gives the same result. Here it is running in Google Sheets mode.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=IFERROR(MID(A2,FIND("(",A2)+1,FIND(")",A2)-FIND("(",A2)-1),"")Black, Charcoal grey, Silver…Works in every version: start after the "(" and take as many characters as lie between the two brackets.

Common mistakes

  • Only the first pair is returned: "Notebook (A5) (Dotted)" gives "A5". For the second pair use TEXTAFTER(A2,"(",2).
  • Nested brackets, like "Kit (incl. (2) cables)", stop at the first ")". Use instance -1 on the closing bracket if the outer pair is what you want.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Extract text between parentheses

In B2, extract the text inside the parentheses and fill down to B7. Leave the cell blank when there are none.

Questions

How do I extract text between square brackets?

Swap the characters: =TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"["),"]").

How do I remove the text in parentheses instead?

Use =TRIM(TEXTBEFORE(A2,"(",,,,A2)&TEXTAFTER(A2,")",,,,"")).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.