How to query MongoDB with LIKE?

MongoDB does not have a LIKE operator like SQL. Instead, use regular expressions (regex) or the $regex operator for pattern matching.

Syntax

// Using regex literal (equivalent to SQL LIKE '%value%')
db.collection.find({"field": /.*value.*/})

// Using $regex operator
db.collection.find({"field": {$regex: "value", $options: "i"}})

Create Sample Data

db.employee.insertMany([
    {"EmployeeName": "John", "EmployeeSalary": 450000},
    {"EmployeeName": "Carol", "EmployeeSalary": 150000},
    {"EmployeeName": "James", "EmployeeSalary": 550000},
    {"EmployeeName": "Jace", "EmployeeSalary": 670000},
    {"EmployeeName": "Larry", "EmployeeSalary": 1000000}
]);

Query with "like" Using Regex

Find all employees whose name contains "J" ?

db.employee.find({"EmployeeName": /.*J.*/}).pretty();

{ "EmployeeName": "John", "EmployeeSalary": 450000 }
{ "EmployeeName": "James", "EmployeeSalary": 550000 }
{ "EmployeeName": "Jace", "EmployeeSalary": 670000 }

Common Patterns

Examples

// Starts with "J"
db.employee.find({"EmployeeName": /^J/});

// Ends with "y"
db.employee.find({"EmployeeName": /y$/});

// Case-insensitive contains "ja"
db.employee.find({"EmployeeName": /ja/i});

// Using $regex operator
db.employee.find({"EmployeeName": {$regex: "^J", $options: "i"}});

Conclusion

Use regex literals (/pattern/) or the $regex operator for SQL LIKE-equivalent queries in MongoDB. Use ^ for starts-with, $ for ends-with, and the i flag for case-insensitive matching.