Match '%' sign when searching in MySQL database

Question

I would like to match this 'wildcard %' in MySQL.
I tried using escape \% and it is not working.

Answer 1

The default escape character is \. So just prefix % with a \ as: \%:

The manual clearly says:

To test for literal instances of a wild-card character, precede it by the escape character. If you do not specify the ESCAPE character, “\” is assumed.

Search for % in Stack%Overflow:

mysql> select 'Stack%Overflow' like '%\%%';
+------------------------------+
| 'Stack%Overflow' like '%\%%' |
+------------------------------+
|                            1 |  <----- Found
+------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Search for % in StackOverflow:

mysql> select 'StackOverflow' like '%\%%';
+-----------------------------+
| 'StackOverflow' like '%\%%' |
+-----------------------------+
|                           0 |   <----- Not Found
+-----------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

EDIT:

If you are calling this query from PHP, you'll have to use \\. This is because even PHP uses \ as the escape character. So make MySQL get a \ you need to have \\ in PHP.

Answer 2

Here is an example:

$sql = 'SELECT * FROM tableName WHERE fieldName LIKE "wildcard\%"';

Answer 3

ok i need to use doble (\\) to match the % in the database

Answer 4

You need to escape the \ in PHP string as well, otherwise PHP would think that you are actually escaping the %, thus sending literal % to the sql query, so I think this should work:

mysql_query("select * from bla where bli like '\\%somewords\\%'");

Answer 5

In latest version you can also try

select * from tbl1 where TxtExpr REGEXP '^%';

regards