How to extract numbers including decimals from text in Excel

Numbers are often stored together with other text in Excel. A product list may contain values such as Weight: 25.75 kg, while an imported report may contain amounts such as Total: $1,250.50. When you need to calculate with those numbers, sorting through the text manually is not practical.

The best way to extract the number depends on the way your data is written. We’ll begin with a simple REGEXEXTRACT formula for whole numbers and decimals, then adjust it for values that contain thousands separators. You’ll also see alternatives for Excel versions without REGEXEXTRACT, including a character-by-character formula, Flash Fill, Power Query, and a formula for text with a predictable structure. Finally, we’ll use Kutools for Excel to extract numbers without writing a formula.

• Method 1: Extract whole numbers and decimal numbers with REGEXEXTRACT
• Method 2: Extract numbers with thousands separators
• Method 3: Extract numbers when REGEXEXTRACT is unavailable
• Method 4: Pull numbers from consistently formatted text with Flash Fill
• Method 5: Extract numbers from large datasets with Power Query
• Method 6: Extract a number when it appears between known text
• Method 7: Extract numbers from text in a few clicks with Kutools for Excel
• Which method should you use?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion

Extract whole numbers and decimal numbers with REGEXEXTRACT

Let’s begin with the simplest case. Each cell contains one number mixed with text. The number may be a whole number such as 36 or 1250, or it may contain decimal places such as 25.75 or 0.625.

Suppose the text you want to extract numbers from is stored in cells A2:A6:

If your Excel version supports REGEXEXTRACT, a short formula can pull the first number from each cell.

1. Select cell B2 or another empty cell next to the first value.
2. Enter the following formula:

   =--REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"\d+(?:\.\d+)?")

3. Press Enter. Then drag the fill handle down to apply the formula to the remaining rows.

   

The pattern \d+ finds one or more digits. The optional (?:\.\d+)? part also includes a decimal point followed by digits when one is present. The double minus converts the extracted text into a number, so the result can be used directly in calculations.

Extract numbers with thousands separators

The first formula works well until the numbers begin to contain commas. For example, extracting 1,250 with the previous formula would return only 1, because the comma is not included in the pattern.

For this situation, let’s use data that contains both thousands separators and decimal places:

Here we can expand the regular expression so Excel recognizes properly grouped commas as part of the number.

1. Select an empty cell next to the first source value.
2. Enter this formula:

   =NUMBERVALUE(REGEXEXTRACT(A2,"(?:\d{1,3}(?:,\d{3})+|\d+)(?:\.\d+)?"),".",",")

3. Press Enter.
4. Fill the formula down through the rest of the data.

   

The REGEXEXTRACT part now recognizes numbers such as 1,250 and 12,450.75. NUMBERVALUE then converts the extracted text into a real number while treating the period as the decimal separator and the comma as the group separator.

Extract numbers when REGEXEXTRACT is unavailable

REGEXEXTRACT is convenient, but it is not available in every Excel installation. If you have LET, SEQUENCE, and CONCAT functions, you can build the number by checking the text one character at a time.

For this example, suppose A2:A6 contains:

1. Select an empty cell next to the first value.
2. Enter the following formula:

   =LET(
       characters,MID(A2,SEQUENCE(LEN(A2)),1),
       extracted,CONCAT(
           IF(
               ISNUMBER(--characters),
               characters,
               IF((characters=".")+(characters=","),characters,"")
           )
       ),
       NUMBERVALUE(extracted,".",",")
   )

3. Press Enter.
4. Copy the formula down to extract the number from the other cells.

   

MID and SEQUENCE split the cell into individual characters. The IF function keeps digits, decimal points, and commas while discarding the other characters. CONCAT puts the retained characters back together, and NUMBERVALUE converts the result into a number.

Pull numbers from consistently formatted text with Flash Fill

Not every extraction needs a formula. When every row follows almost exactly the same pattern, showing Excel one or two examples may be enough.

For instance, suppose column A contains these weight descriptions:

1. In B2, type 25.75, then press Enter.
2. Press Ctrl + E to fill the remaining cells with Flash Fill. 💡 Alternatively, go to the Home tab, click Fill in the Editing group, then choose Flash Fill.

   

Excel looks at the example you entered and fills the rest of the column using the same pattern.

Extract numbers from large datasets with Power Query

Power Query is a good choice when you work with imported or regularly updated data, especially when the surrounding text is not always written in the same way. You can set up the extraction once, then reuse it whenever the data changes.

Suppose the Original text column contains values like these:

1. Click any cell in the source data.
2. Go to Data > From Table/Range. If the data is not already formatted as a table, confirm the range when Excel prompts you.

   

3. In the Power Query Editor, click Add Column > Custom Column.

   

4. In the Custom Column dialog:
   1. Enter a name such as Extracted number.
   2. In the formula box, enter:

      Number.FromText(
          Text.Select([Original text], {"0".."9", ".", ","}),
          "en-US"
      )

      📝 Notes:

      • Replace [Original text] with the actual name of the column that contains your source text.
      • Text.Select keeps only the digits, periods, and commas. Number.FromText then converts the retained text into a number. The "en-US" argument tells Power Query to treat the comma as the thousands separator and the period as the decimal separator.
   3. Click OK.

      

5. Click Home > Close & Load to return the results to Excel.

   

The extracted numbers are returned in a new column:

Because the extraction steps are saved in the query, you do not need to repeat them when the source data changes. After adding or updating data, right-click the loaded result table and choose Refresh to run the query again.

Extract a number when it appears between known text

Sometimes the structure of the text does most of the work for you. If every value starts and ends the same way, there is no need to search through every character.

Consider these entries:

In every row, the number is located after Weight: and before kg. TEXTAFTER and TEXTBEFORE can use those two pieces of text as boundaries.

1. Select an empty cell next to the first value.
2. Enter:

   =--TEXTBEFORE(TEXTAFTER(A2,"Weight: ")," kg")

3. Press Enter.
4. Fill the formula down.

   

TEXTAFTER removes everything through Weight: . TEXTBEFORE then removes kg and everything after it. The double minus converts the remaining value into a number.

Extract numbers from text in a few clicks with Kutools for Excel

If you do not want to build a formula, Kutools for Excel has an Extract Text tool with a ready-made option for extracting numbers. You select the cells, choose Extract the number, and check the results in the preview before applying them.

For example, suppose cells A20:A24 contain:

1. Select the cells that contain the numbers and text.
2. Click Kutools > Text > Extract Text.
3. In the Extract Text dialog, choose Extract the number. The pane on the right immediately shows the numbers that Kutools finds.

   

4. Click OK, then choose where you want to place the extracted results when prompted.

   

The numbers are returned without having to create a helper formula or work out a regular expression. This can be particularly handy when you only need to clean a selected range and want to see the extracted values before committing the result.

Which method should you use?

There is no need to use the most complicated formula for every worksheet. Start by looking at how your text is structured, then choose the method that fits it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

For a simple cell such as Weight: 25.75 kg, REGEXEXTRACT is usually the quickest formula because it can find both whole numbers and decimals with very little setup. When commas are part of the number, extending the regular expression and passing the result through NUMBERVALUE takes care of values such as 12,450.75.

That does not mean REGEXEXTRACT is the right choice for every worksheet. A character-based formula is useful when the newer regex functions are missing. Flash Fill is convenient for a quick cleanup, Power Query is better for data that comes back regularly, and TEXTAFTER with TEXTBEFORE is hard to beat when the text follows the same pattern in every row.

For a no-formula approach, Kutools for Excel lets you select Extract the number and preview the result directly in the Extract Text dialog, which makes it a straightforward option for extracting numbers from an existing range.

Once you know whether your data contains simple decimals, thousands separators, or a predictable text pattern, choosing the right extraction method becomes much easier.