SOQL LIKE and NOT LIKE: Wildcards, Syntax and Apex Examples

LIKE filters on part of a text field: names that contain a word, codes that start with a prefix, or text that sits between two known words. The part people get stuck on is the negative form. SOQL has no NOT LIKE operator, so you negate the whole condition instead:

List<Account> accounts = [
  SELECT Id, Name FROM Account
  WHERE (NOT Name LIKE '%test%')
];

Everything below was run against a live org. The errors quoted are the ones Salesforce returned.

NOT LIKE: the syntax that works

Put NOT before the field and wrap the condition in parentheses.

// Works
WHERE (NOT Name LIKE '%test%')

// Parse error: SOQL has no NOT LIKE operator
WHERE Name NOT LIKE '%test%'

The parentheses matter as soon as you combine conditions. WHERE (NOT Name LIKE '%test%') AND Type = 'Customer' is unambiguous. Without the parentheses you are relying on operator precedence, and the query is harder to read.

To exclude several patterns, negate each one or negate a list bind (covered below):

WHERE (NOT Name LIKE '%test%') AND (NOT Name LIKE '%demo%')

NOT LIKE keeps blank values

A negated LIKE returns rows where the field is null. In the test org, 6 of 8 accounts had no website, and (NOT Website LIKE '%zzqq%') returned all 8. SQL would have dropped the blanks. If you only want rows that have a value, add AND Website != null. SOQL does not accept IS NOT NULL.

The two wildcards

Pattern	Matches
'Acme%'	starts with Acme
'%Acme'	ends with Acme
'%Acme%'	contains Acme anywhere
'Acme%Ltd'	starts with Acme and ends with Ltd
'J_n'	Jan, Jen, Jon (exactly one character in the middle)
'Acme'	exactly Acme, ignoring case

LIKE ignores case. '%a%' and '%A%' returned the same 7 accounts in the test org. There is no case-sensitive option, so filter in Apex when case matters.

Matching text between two words

Put % between the words, and on both ends if they can sit anywhere in the field:

List<Account> accounts = [
  SELECT Id, Name, Industry FROM Account
  WHERE Industry LIKE '%Technology%Services%'
];

That matches "Technology Services", "Technology and Services" and "Technology, Consulting Services". It does not match "Services in Technology", because the order of the words matters.

Use _ when exactly one character must sit between them. '%Street_Avenue%' matches "Street Avenue" but not "Street Avenue" with two spaces.

Binding Apex variables

A bind variable is used as the full pattern, so add the wildcards in Apex first:

String keyword = '%' + searchTerm + '%';
List<Account> accounts = [
  SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE :keyword
];

// Negated
List<Account> others = [
  SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE (NOT Name LIKE :keyword)
];

Binding :searchTerm without the % gives you an exact match, which is the usual reason a search box "finds nothing".

Binding a list of patterns

You can bind a List<String>, and SOQL returns records that match any pattern in it:

List<String> patterns = new List<String>{ '%Acme%', 'Global%', '%Ltd' };
List<Account> accounts = [
  SELECT Id, Name FROM Account WHERE Name LIKE :patterns
];

This works the same as an OR of three LIKE conditions and keeps the query readable when the list comes from configuration.

Escaping % and _

A % or _ typed by a user acts as a wildcard. To match it literally, escape it with a backslash in the SOQL text:

SELECT Id FROM Product2 WHERE Name LIKE '50\% off'

When you build that query as an Apex string, the backslash needs escaping too, so it reaches SOQL intact:

String soql = 'SELECT Id FROM Product2 WHERE Name LIKE \'50\\% off\'';
List<Product2> products = Database.query(soql);

For dynamic SOQL built from user input, also run the input through String.escapeSingleQuotes() so a stray quote cannot change the query.

Which field types accept LIKE

Field type	LIKE works?	What happens instead
Text, Text Area (255)	Yes
Email, Phone, URL	Yes
Picklist (single-select)	Yes	Industry LIKE 'Tech%' works
ID	No	invalid operator on id field
Number, Currency, Date	No	like operator only valid on string field
Multi-select picklist	No	invalid operator on multipicklist field. Use INCLUDES
Long Text Area, Rich Text	No	the field can not be filtered in query call. Use SOSL

For a multi-select picklist, see SOQL CONTAINS vs LIKE vs INCLUDES.

Performance

An index can only help when the pattern is anchored at the start. 'Acme%' can use an index on Name. '%Acme%' cannot, so on an object with hundreds of thousands of rows the optimizer has to scan, and in a trigger that can end in a non-selective query error.

• Anchor the pattern at the start when the business rule allows it.
• Add a selective filter, such as a date range or an owner, alongside the LIKE.
• For free-text search across fields or objects, use SOSL FIND, which runs on Salesforce's search index.

Common mistakes

• Writing Name NOT LIKE. Use (NOT Name LIKE ...).
• Binding a variable without wildcards and getting an exact match.
• Expecting NOT LIKE to drop blank values. It keeps them. Add AND field != null.
• Using LIKE on an ID, a number or a multi-select picklist.
• Starting every pattern with % on a large object.