Available on plans:

Free

Pro

Team

Enterprise

Use Formatter’s Text action to extract data. There are four transforms that you can use to pull specific values out of your data:

• Extract Email Address: searches for and returns email addresses formatted as username@emaildomain.
• Extract Number: searches for and returns one or more digits in a row.
  • It can extract decimal numbers, like 123.45, and numbers with commas separating digit groupings, like 123,456,789.
• Extract Phone Number: searches for and extracts 10 digits grouped as 3-3-4 or 4-3-3 digits. It will also recognize:
  • Numbers separated by hyphens -, periods ., or spaces.
  • Area codes when they are surrounded by parentheses, e.g. (504)123-456-7890
  • Extensions formatted as either x, ext, or extension, followed by the 10-digit phone number.
• Extract URL: searches for and extracts URLs formatted as strings of letters, numbers, and/or hyphens - followed by a period ., then a recognized top-level domain (TLD). It will also recognize:
  • Protocols https:// and http://.
  • Subdomains.
  • Folders.
  • Query parameters.

Formatter will search for and return the first value that matches the transform in your data. This is helpful when you have many kinds of values mixed into your data, but you only want to use part of it.

Example

Potential customers email you to inquire about your services instead of filling out your form. The info you need from them to get started is within the body of their emails, but it’s not separated out into discreet fields that you can map to your contact management system. You can use Formatter to pull that info out for you.

Tip

You can also use the Extract Pattern transform if you need custom extraction options.

1. Add a Formatter step

• In the Zap outline, click the Action step or the plus sign + to add a new action. A dialog box will open.
• In the search box, search for and select Formatter. The right sidebar will open to the Setup tab.
• Click the Action event field to open the dropdown menu and select Text.
• Click Continue to continue to the Configure tab.

2. Set up your transform

• Click the Transform field to open the dropdown menu, then select the transform that you want the Zap to perform on your string:
  • Extract Email Address.
  • Extract Number.
  • Extract Phone Number. 
  • Extract URL.
• In the Input field, manually enter the string you want to transform or map a field from a previous step.
  • If you’re using the Extract Phone Number transform:
    • (Optional) In the Phone Number field, enter the maximum number of characters that your copy should contain before the transform truncates it.
• Click Continue to continue to the Test tab.

3. Test your action

• Click Test step.
  • The Data out tab will display the transform output so you can confirm your string was formatted correctly.
  • If the new data is not what you expect, you can adjust the transform settings and retest the step again.

Limitations

While the Extract URL can find most URLs, new top-level domains may not be available yet. Learn more about how to extract data in your Zaps.