Sql Like Wildcards — Free Sql Tutorial

TL;DR: Learn Sql Like Wildcards in Sql with a free, beginner-friendly tutorial, examples and practice for Indian students on Syllab.in.

Sql Like Wildcards in Sql

LIKE matches text patterns. % matches any sequence (0 or more chars), _ matches exactly one char. Use LIKE with WHERE to find rows containing a substring.

Case sensitivity: LIKE is case-insensitive in MySQL, case-sensitive in PostgreSQL (use ILIKE for case-insensitive). Always use LOWER() for reliable case-insensitive searches.

Performance: LIKE %value% (leading wildcard) cannot use indexes. LIKE value% (trailing wildcard) can use an index for faster searches.

WHERE name LIKE 'A%'        -- starts with A
WHERE name LIKE '%ar%'      -- contains 'ar' anywhere
WHERE name LIKE '_mail'     -- 5 chars, ends in 'mail'
WHERE name LIKE 'J%n'       -- starts with J, ends with n
WHERE email LIKE '%@gmail%' -- Gmail emails

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