How to Use Wildcard Characters using Query function

Example

Let's assume we have the following data in a Google Sheet:

To use wildcard characters with the Query function in Google Sheets, follow these steps:

1. Click on an empty cell where you want the results to appear, e.g., A7.
2. Enter the following formula to search for names that start with "A" using a wildcard:

=QUERY(A1:C5, "SELECT * WHERE A LIKE 'A%'")

In this example, the wildcard character is %, which matches any number of characters. The LIKE keyword is used in the query to search for names that start with "A". The result will be:

3. If you want to search for names that contain "a" (case-insensitive) anywhere in the name, use the following formula:

=QUERY(A1:C5, "SELECT * WHERE lower(A) LIKE '%a%'")

In this case, we use the lower() function to make the search case-insensitive. The result will be:

4. You can also use the _ wildcard to match any single character. For example, to search for names that have exactly 4 characters and start with "D", use the following formula:

=QUERY(A1:C5, "SELECT * WHERE A LIKE 'D___'")

The result will be:

Remember to always enclose the search pattern in single quotes and use double quotes for the entire query string.