SQL wildcards can be used when searching for data in a database.

SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more characters when searching for data in a database.
SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE operator.
With SQL, the following wildcards can be used:

Wildcard	Description
%	A substitute for zero or more characters
_	A substitute for exactly one character
[charlist]	Any single character in charlist
[^charlist] or [!charlist]	Any single character not in charlist

SQL Wildcard Examples

We have the following "Persons" table:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes
3	Pettersen	Kari	Storgt 20	Stavanger

Using the % Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons living in a city that starts with "sa" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE 'sa%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons living in a city that contains the pattern "nes" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE City LIKE '%nes%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes

Using the _ Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a first name that starts with any character, followed by "la" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE FirstName LIKE '_la'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "S", followed by any character, followed by "end", followed by any character, followed by "on" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE 'S_end_on'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes

Using the [charlist] Wildcard

Now we want to select the persons with a last name that starts with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE '[bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
2	Svendson	Tove	Borgvn 23	Sandnes
3	Pettersen	Kari	Storgt 20	Stavanger

Next, we want to select the persons with a last name that do not start with "b" or "s" or "p" from the "Persons" table.
We use the following SELECT statement:

SELECT * FROM Persons WHERE LastName LIKE '[!bsp]%'

The result-set will look like this:

P_Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Hansen	Ola	Timoteivn 10	Sandnes