SQL Server LIKE Condition (Operator)

SQL Server LIKE condition or operator is used to perform pattern matching. It is used with WHERE clause and SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statement.

Syntax:

Parameter Explanation

expression: It is a character expression like a column or field.

pattern: It is a character expression that contains pattern matching.

Following is a list of patterns used with LIKE operator:

LIKE Operator using % wildcard (percent sign wildcard)

Example:

You have a table named "Students", having the following data:

Let's use % wildcard with SQL Server LIKE condition. Here we retrieve all of the students from "Student" table whose name begins with 'L'.

Output:

Or

LIKE Operator using [ ] wildcard (square brackets wildcard)

Let's use [] wildcard with SQL Server LIKE condition.

Note:
It will return all students whose name is 5 characters long, where the first two characters is 'Aj' and the last two characters is 'et', and the third character is either 'i' or 'e'. So in this case, it would match on either 'Ajiet' or 'Ajeet'.

Output:

LIKE Condition with NOT Operator

Let's retrieve all of the students from "Student" table whose name is not begin with 'L'.

Output: