---
title: "Wildcards Operators in SQL"  
description: "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 w"  
author: "Chris Anderson"  
published: 2011-11-30  
updated: 2014-09-18  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/271/wildcards-operators-in-sql  
category: "database"  
tags: ["database"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Wildcards Operators in SQL

SQL wildcards can substitute for one or more [characters](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/42112/who-is-the-originator-of-avengers-characters) when searching for data in a database. SQL wildcards must be used with the SQL LIKE [operator](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/144/union-intersection-and-except-operator-in-sql-server) which is used to compare a value to similar values using [wildcard](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/33955/why-is-the-sql-wildcard-like-operator-in-the-query) [operators](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/716/php-operators).

##### Two wildcard Operators in SQL are as under:

1) The percent sign (%): It matches one or more characters. Note that [MS Access](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/477/shortcut-keys-for-formatting-elements-in-pivottable-view-for-ms-access) uses the asterisk (*) wildcard [character instead](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/159539/how-to-handle-an-invalid-input-exception-like-entering-a-character-instead-of-an-integer) of the percent sign (%) wildcard character.

##### Example:

```
  SELECT * FROM table_name  WHERE column LIKE 'ABC%'
```

2) The underscore (_): It matches one character. Note that MS Access uses a [question mark](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49900/how-to-fix-a-mac-with-a-flashing-question-mark) (?) instead of the underscore (_) to match any one character.

##### Example:

```
               SELECT * FROM table_name
               WHERE column LIKE '_ABC'
```

The percent sign represents zero, one, or [multiple](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/12797/iowa-is-expected-to-see-heavy-growth-in-multiple-sectors) characters and the underscore represents a single number or character. The symbols can be used in combinations.

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/271/wildcards-operators-in-sql

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