Maybe using Left() and Right() ?
Option Explicit Sub test() Dim s As String, CarID As String Dim p1 As String, p2 As String Dim i As Long s = "CarID(s):123412341234" i = InStr(s, ":") If i > 0 Then p1 = Left(s, i) p2 = Right(s, Len(s) - i) MsgBox p1 & " -- " & p2 End If s = "CarID(~):123412341234" i = InStr(s, ":") If i > 0 Then p1 = Left(s, i) p2 = Right(s, Len(s) - i) MsgBox p1 & " -- " & p2 End If End Sub