PATINDEX()

Signature

PATINDEX ( '%pattern%' , expression )

Parameters

• pattern — A character expression that contains the sequence to be found. Wildcard characters can be used; however, the % character must come before and follow *pattern* (except when you search for first or last characters). *pattern* is an expression of the character string data type category. *pattern* is limited to 8,000 characters.
• expression — An expression, typically a column that is searched for the specified pattern. *expression* is of the character string data type category.

Examples

SELECT PATINDEX('%bo%', 'keyboard') AS position;

position
-----------
          4

SELECT PATINDEX('%ter%', 'interesting data') AS position;

3

SELECT PATINDEX('%en_ure%', 'Please ensure the door is locked!') AS position;

8

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

• SQL Server 2017 and later
• Azure SQL Database
• Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Azure Synapse Analytics
• Analytics Platform System (PDW)
• Microsoft Fabric warehouse
• Fabric SQL database