SQL LIKE Operator

Guides • SQL • 15/04/2021

The SQL LIKE Operator

The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

There are two wildcards often used in conjunction with the LIKE operator:

Note:
MS Access uses an asterisk (*) instead of the percent sign (%), and a question mark (?) instead of the underscore (_).

The percent sign and the underscore can also be used in combinations!

SQL

SELECT column1, column2, ...
FROM table_name
WHERE columnN LIKE pattern; 

Info:
You can also combine any number of conditions using AND or OR operators.

Here are some examples showing different LIKE operators with ‘%’ and ‘_’ wildcards:

LIKE Operator	Description
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘a%’	Finds any values that start with “a”
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘%a’	Finds any values that end with “a”
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘%or%’	Finds any values that have “or” in any position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘_r%’	Finds any values that have “r” in the second position
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘a_%’	Finds any values that start with “a” and are at least 2 characters in length
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘a__%’	Finds any values that start with “a” and are at least 3 characters in length
WHERE ContactName LIKE ‘a%o’	Finds any values that start with “a” and ends with “o”

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName starting with “a”:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%'; 

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName ending with “a”:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%a'; 

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName that have “or” in any position:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '%or%';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName that have “r” in the second position:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE '_r%';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName that starts with “a” and are at least 3 characters in length:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a__%'; 

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a ContactName that starts with “a” and ends with “o”:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE ContactName LIKE 'a%o'; 

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a CustomerName that does NOT start with “a”:

SQL

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName NOT LIKE 'a%';