Regular Expression Tester & Validator

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About Regex Tester

Test, debug, and validate regular expressions with real-time matching. Perfect for pattern validation in forms, data extraction, and text processing. Supports global, case-insensitive, and multiline flags.

Key Features
  • Real-time pattern matching and validation
  • Support for all PHP regex functions (preg_match, preg_match_all, preg_replace, preg_split)
  • Multiple pattern modifiers and flags
  • Detailed match results with highlighting
  • Copy results and patterns easily
How to Use
  • Enter your regex pattern (e.g., /\d+/)
  • Add test text to match against
  • Select the PHP function to test
  • Choose modifiers and flags as needed
  • Click "Process" to see results
Pro Tip: Use the educational sections below to learn regex patterns, see common examples, and avoid typical mistakes. Perfect for beginners and experienced developers alike!
Test, debug, and validate regular expressions with real-time matching. Perfect for pattern validation in forms, data extraction, and text processing. Supports global, case-insensitive, and multiline flags.

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Common Regex Examples

Email Validation
/\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b/
Phone Number
/\+?[1-9]\d{1,14}$|^\(\d{3}\)\s?\d{3}-\d{4}$/
URL Validation
/https?:\/\/(www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{1,256}\.[a-zA-Z0-9()]{1,6}\b([-a-zA-Z0-9()@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)/
Date Format
/^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$|^\d{2}\/\d{2}\/\d{4}$/
IP Address
/^(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)\.){3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?)$/
Credit Card
/^(?:4[0-9]{12}(?:[0-9]{3})?|5[1-5][0-9]{14}|3[47][0-9]{13}|3[0-9]{13}|6(?:011|5[0-9]{2})[0-9]{12})$/

Regex Cheat Sheet

Metacharacters
. - Any character
^ - Start of line
$ - End of line
* - 0 or more
+ - 1 or more
? - 0 or 1
| - OR operator
Quantifiers
{n} - Exactly n times
{n,} - n or more times
{n,m} - Between n and m
* - 0 or more (greedy)
*? - 0 or more (lazy)
+ - 1 or more (greedy)
+? - 1 or more (lazy)
Anchors
^ - Start of string
$ - End of string
\b - Word boundary
\B - Non-word boundary
\A - Start of string
\Z - End of string
\z - Absolute end
Character Classes
[abc] - Any of a, b, c
[a-z] - Any lowercase letter
[A-Z] - Any uppercase letter
\d - Any digit [0-9]
\w - Any word character
\s - Any whitespace
\D - Non-digit
Regex Testing Tips
  • Start with simple patterns and gradually add complexity
  • Use test strings that include edge cases
  • Test both positive and negative matches
  • Consider performance with large text inputs
Common Mistakes
  • Forgetting to escape special characters
  • Not considering case sensitivity
  • Overusing greedy quantifiers
  • Missing anchor points for exact matches