Here's a custom function that will do the job for you: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------- Function FiveAfterText(strContent As String) Dim boFlag As Boolean Dim intChar As Integer Dim strChar As String intChar = 1 Do Until boFlag = True strChar = LCase(Mid(strContent, intChar, 1)) If Asc(strChar) >= 97 And Asc(strChar) <= 122 Then boFlag = True End If intChar = intChar + 1 Loop FiveAfterText = Mid(strContent, intChar, 5) End Function ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------- Put this function in a module. If your string is in A1, you can get the five number string you need in any cell by entering this formula: =FIVEAFTERTEXT(A1) Ray ------------------------------------ GR Business Process Solutions Ray Blake Head of Software Design ray@xxxxxxxxx Braedon Newell Road Hemel Hempstead Herts HP3 9PD tel: 01442 396518 fax: 01442 389353 mobile: 07834 226601 www.grbps.com ------------------------------------ -----Original Message----- From: mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:mso-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of McDonald, Christine, Ms, DCAA Sent: 18 August 2005 17:46 To: mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [mso] Excel Formula I know I've done this before, but can't find the formula again. I have a column of data that I need to extract the 5 characters after the first letter in cell. So, for instance, if I have a cell that has 04421-2005B12345789-test I need to extract the 12345. The data is not the same length in each cell, so the text to columns or mid feature won't work. Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Christine McDonald, CPA Technical Specialist Western Regional Office Information Technology Division (RSA-4) ************************************************************* You are receiving this mail because you subscribed to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or MicrosoftOffice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To send mail to the group, simply address it to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To Unsubscribe from this group, send an email to mso-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject line. Or, visit the group's homepage and use the dropdown menu. This will also allow you to change your email settings to digest or vacation (no mail). //www.freelists.org/webpage/mso To be able to use the files section for sharing files with the group, send a request to mso-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and you will be sent an invitation with instructions. Once you are a member of the files group, you can go here to upload/download files: http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/msofiles ************************************************************* ************************************************************* You are receiving this mail because you subscribed to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or MicrosoftOffice@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To send mail to the group, simply address it to mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To Unsubscribe from this group, send an email to mso-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the subject line. Or, visit the group's homepage and use the dropdown menu. This will also allow you to change your email settings to digest or vacation (no mail). //www.freelists.org/webpage/mso To be able to use the files section for sharing files with the group, send a request to mso-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx and you will be sent an invitation with instructions. Once you are a member of the files group, you can go here to upload/download files: http://www.smartgroups.com/vault/msofiles *************************************************************