SQL Wildcards

SQL Wildcard Characters

A wildcard character is used to substitute one or more characters in a string.

Wildcard characters are used with the LIKE operator. The LIKE operator is used in a WHERE clause to search for a specified pattern in a column.

Wildcard Characters in MS Access

Symbol Description Example
* Represents zero or more characters bl* finds bl, black, blue, and blob
? Represents a single character h?t finds hot, hat, and hit
[] Represents any single character within the brackets h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but not hit
! Represents any character not in the brackets h[!oa]t finds hit, but not hot and hat
- Represents a range of characters c[a-b]t finds cat and cbt
# Represents any single numeric character 2#5 finds 205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, 275, 285, and 295

Wildcard Characters in SQL Server

Symbol Description Example
% Represents zero or more characters bl* finds bl, black, blue, and blob
_ Represents a single character h?t finds hot, hat, and hit
[] Represents any single character within the brackets h[oa]t finds hot and hat, but not hit
^ Represents any character not in the brackets h[!oa]t finds hit, but not hot and hat
- Represents a range of characters c[a-b]t finds cat and cbt

All the wildcards can also be used in combinations!

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

LIKE Operator Description
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘a%’ Finds any values that starts with “a”
WHERE CustomerName LIKE ‘%a’ Finds any values that ends 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 starts with “a” and are at least 3 characters in length
WHERE ContactName LIKE ‘a%o’ Finds any values that starts with “a” and ends with “o”

Using the % Wildcard

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

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'ber%';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City containing the pattern “es”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '%es%';

Using the _ Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with any character, followed by “ondon”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '_ondon';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with “L”, followed by any character, followed by “n”, followed by any character, followed by “on”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE 'L_n_on';

Using the [charlist] Wildcard

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with “b”, “s”, or “p”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[bsp]%';

The following SQL statement selects all customers with a City starting with “a”, “b”, or “c”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[a-c]%';

Using the [!charlist] Wildcard

The two following SQL statements select all customers with a City NOT starting with “b”, “s”, or “p”:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City LIKE '[!bsp]%';

Or:

SQL 
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City NOT LIKE '[bsp]%';