Extract Text Using Regular Expressions

How to Use This Regex Extractor

Struggling with messy text? This regex tool helps you pull out exactly what you need using pattern matching. Just follow these simple steps to extract text efficiently:

1. Paste your text - Insert any text content or upload a text file (supports .txt, .html, .csv, and .log formats)
2. Enter a regex pattern - Or choose from common presets like emails, URLs, phone numbers, dates, and HTML tags
3. Choose regex options:
   • Global match (g): Find all matches in the text
   • Case insensitive (i): Match text regardless of capitalization
   • Multiline (m): Treat each line as a separate string
   • Dot matches all (s): Make . match newline characters too
4. Click "Extract Matches" - Get all text that matches your pattern instantly
5. Copy or download - Save your extracted results in TXT, CSV, or JSON format
6. Pro tip: Test different regex patterns first with the "Show Example" button to see how it works

Common Use Cases

This regex extractor is perfect for data analysts, developers, and anyone working with structured or semi-structured text. Here are some practical scenarios where it shines:

• Extract email addresses from contact lists or support tickets
• Find all URLs in website source code or API responses
• Parse phone numbers from customer databases or CSV files
• Extract specific log entries from server logs using custom patterns
• Identify dates in different formats from reports or documents
• Remove or extract HTML/XML tags from markup text
• Extract product codes, invoice numbers, or other structured data
• Process large text files by filtering out only the information you need
• Validate and clean data before importing into databases

Why This Tool Works Better

Most regex tools feel complicated or lack useful features. Here's what makes this one stand out:

• Real-time match counting and statistics to track your results
• Multiple export options including CSV, JSON, and plain text
• Flexible formatting controls (join with newlines or commas)
• Support for complex regex patterns with detailed error messages
• Field-specific extraction with optional case sensitivity controls
• Preserves original spacing and formatting in extracted results
• Handles large files efficiently without crashing or slowing down
• Interactive example showing exactly how patterns work in practice

Example Transformation

Contact us at [email protected]
or [email protected].
Our website is https://example.com

\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b

[email protected]
[email protected]

Pro Tips for Regex Mastery

Get the most out of your regex patterns with these expert-level suggestions:

• Use \d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4} for US phone number extraction
• Try \b\d{1,2}\/\d{1,2}\/\d{2,4}\b to find dates in different formats
• Combine multiple patterns using | for complex searches
• Use lookaheads/lookbehinds for context-sensitive matching
• Test patterns on small samples before processing large files
• Use the multiline option when working with multi-line log files
• For HTML/XML extraction, use <[^>]+> to match tags
• Save frequently used patterns in a personal regex library

Frequently Asked Questions

Still unsure how to use regex patterns? Here are answers to common questions:

What if my regex doesn't work?

Check for syntax errors first - JavaScript regex rules apply. Try simplifying the pattern.

Can I extract nested patterns?

Yes! Use capturing groups (...) to extract specific parts of matches.

Why aren't all matches showing?

Make sure the Global match option is enabled to find all occurrences in the text.

How to handle special characters?

Escape special characters like ., *, or + with a backslash.

Can I extract from multiple files?

Upload one file at a time. For batch processing, use the downloadable version.

What about Unicode characters?

The tool supports UTF-8 encoding for international text and special characters.