This operator is used with a WHERE clause. It allows for regex-like functionality with the following wildcards:

WildcardDescription
%Zero or more characters
_A single character

Without wildcards

If not wildcards are used, an exact match is required.

Examples:

Return all customers whose name starts with “a” or ends with “b”.

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a%' OR CustomerName LIKE '%b';

Return all customers whose name starts with “a” and are at least three characters long:

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE CustomerName LIKE 'a__%';