The SEARCH function in Excel is used to find the position (as a number) of one text string within another. Unlike the FIND function, SEARCH is not case-sensitive and supports the use of wildcards, making it more flexible for general text searches.

The MID function in Excel is a powerful text function that lets you extract a specific number of characters from any position within a string—not just the beginning or end. It's incredibly useful when your data is embedded in the middle of a text value, such as codes, dates, or combined fields.