Regular Expressions 101

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An explanation of your regex will be automatically generated as you type.
Detailed match information will be displayed here automatically.
  • All Tokens
  • Common Tokens
  • General Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Meta Sequences
  • Quantifiers
  • Group Constructs
  • Character Classes
  • Flags/Modifiers
  • Substitution
  • A single character of: a, b or c
    [abc]
  • A character except: a, b or c
    [^abc]
  • A character in the range: a-z
    [a-z]
  • A character not in the range: a-z
    [^a-z]
  • A character in the range: a-z or A-Z
    [a-zA-Z]
  • Any single character
    .
  • Alternate - match either a or b
    a|b
  • Any whitespace character
    \s
  • Any non-whitespace character
    \S
  • Any digit
    \d
  • Any non-digit
    \D
  • Any word character
    \w
  • Any non-word character
    \W
  • Non-capturing group
    (?:...)
  • Capturing group
    (...)
  • Zero or one of a
    a?
  • Zero or more of a
    a*
  • One or more of a
    a+
  • Exactly 3 of a
    a{3}
  • 3 or more of a
    a{3,}
  • Between 3 and 6 of a
    a{3,6}
  • Start of string
    ^
  • End of string
    $
  • A word boundary
    \b
  • Non-word boundary
    \B

Regular Expression
No Match

/
/
gm

Test String

Code Generator

Language

Generated Code

import java.util.regex.Matcher; import java.util.regex.Pattern; public class Example { public static void main(String[] args) { final String regex = "^(?:(52\\-)|(1\\-))?(\\()?(?(1)[0-9]{2,3}|[2-9][0-9]{2})(?(3)\\)\\s?|(\\-|[.]|\\s|))(?(1)[0-9]|[2-9])[0-9]{2}(?(4)\\4|(?:\\-|[.]|\\s)?)[0-9]{4}(\\s?(?:x|ext|ext.|extension|Ext|Ext.|Extension|#)\\s?[0-9]+)?$"; final String string = "Regular valid formats\n\n" + "225-586-7777\n" + "(223)249-4444\n" + "(223) 234-3344\n" + "223.456.2222\n" + "2253451111\n" + "223 334 4444\n\n" + "1-325-586-7777\n" + "1-(923)249-4444\n" + "1-(923) 234-3344\n" + "1-923.456.2222\n" + "1-9253451111\n" + "1-923 234 4444\n\n" + "52-125-586-7777\n" + "52-(123)249-4444\n" + "52-(123) 234-3344\n" + "52-123.456.2222\n" + "52-1253451111\n" + "52-123 134 4444\n\n" + "Valid formats with extensions\n\n" + "1-800-661-3696 x14700\n" + "1-800-661-3696x14700\n" + "1-800-661-3696 Extension 14700\n" + "1-800-661-3696 ext14700\n\n" + "325-586-7777 x123\n" + "(323)249-4444x123\n" + "(323) 234-3344 Ext 123\n" + "323.456.2222 ext 124\n" + "3253451111ext. 123\n" + "323 334 4444extension234\n" + "(223)456 7891 x 123\n" + "(223)456 7891 ext 123\n" + "(223)456 7891 ext. 123\n" + "(223)456 7891 Ext 123\n" + "(223)456 7891 Ext. 123\n" + "(910)456-8970 x12\n" + "(910)456-8970 #12\n" + "(910)456-8970 extension12456\n" + "(910)456-8970 Extension 12456\n\n" + "Invalid formats\n\n" + "444000-1111\n" + "444-0001111\n" + "444.000-1111\n" + "444000 1111\n" + "444 0001111\n" + "444 000.1111\n" + "444.0001111\n" + "444000.1111\n" + "444-000.1111\n" + "(4440001111\n" + "444)0001111\n" + "440001111\n" + "444000111111\n\n" + "125-586-7777\n" + "(123)249-4444\n" + "(123) 234-3344\n" + "123.456.2222\n" + "1253451111\n" + "123 134 4444\n\n" + "125-586-7777\n" + "(123)249-4444\n" + "(123) 234-3344\n" + "123.456.2222\n" + "1253451111\n" + "123 134 4444\n\n" + "Invalid formats with extensions\n\n" + "12-125-586-7777\n" + "12-(123)249-4444\n" + "12-(123) 234-3344\n" + "12-123.456.2222\n" + "12-1253451111\n" + "12-123 134 4444\n\n" + "12-444000-1111\n" + "12-444-0001111\n" + "12-444.000-1111\n" + "12-444000 1111\n" + "12-444 0001111\n" + "12-444 000.1111\n" + "12-444.0001111\n" + "12-444000.1111\n" + "12-444-000.1111\n" + "12-(4440001111\n" + "12-444)0001111\n" + "12-440001111\n" + "12-444000111111\n\n" + "1-888-720-1275 x2 x2\n" + "1-888-720-1275 2\n" + "1-888-720-1275 x\n" + "1-888-720-1275 Ext\n" + "888-720-1275x\n\n" + "1-444000-1111\n" + "1-444-0001111\n" + "1-444.000-1111\n" + "1-444000 1111\n" + "1-444 0001111\n" + "1-444 000.1111\n" + "1-444.0001111\n" + "1-444000.1111\n" + "1-444-000.1111\n" + "1-(4440001111\n" + "1-444)0001111\n" + "1-440001111\n" + "1-444000111111"; final Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(regex, Pattern.MULTILINE); final Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(string); while (matcher.find()) { System.out.println("Full match: " + matcher.group(0)); for (int i = 1; i <= matcher.groupCount(); i++) { System.out.println("Group " + i + ": " + matcher.group(i)); } } } }

Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Java, please visit: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html