Query Criteria Quick Reference Guide

Below, you'll find some of the most common criteria used in Access queries. While these criteria are all fairly simple, each one can help you carry out meaningful searches of your data.

When entering the criteria, write them exactly as they are written in the second column, replacing x with your search term—or in the case of dates, replacing mm/dd/yyyy with the desired date.

Simple criteria for all data types:

Criteria Name	Write it like...	Function
Equals	"x"	Searches for values equal to x
Does Not Equal	Not in ("x")	Searches for all values except those equal to x
Null	Is Null	Searches for empty fields
Not Null	Is Not Null	Searches for non-empty fields

Simple criteria for text:

Criteria Name	Write it like...	Function
Contains	Like "x"	Searches for all values that contain x
Does Not Contain	Not like "x"	Searches for all values except those that contain x
Begins With	Like "x*"	Searches for all values beginning with x
Ends With	Like "*x"	Searches for all values ending with x
Comes After	>= "x"	Searches for all values that come after x in alphabetical order
Comes Before	<= "x"	Searches for all values that come before x in alphabetical order

Simple criteria for numbers:

Criteria Name	Write it like...	Function
Between	Between "x" and "y"	Searches for values in the range between x and y
Less Than	< x	Searches for all values smaller than x
Less Than or Equal To	<= x	Searches for all values smaller than or equal to x
Greater Than	> x	Searches for all values larger than x
Greater Than or Equal To	>= x	Searches for all values larger than or equal to x

Simple criteria for dates:

Criteria Name	Write it like...	Function
Between	Between "#mm/dd/yyyy#" and "#mm/dd/yyyy#"	Searches for dates that fall between two dates
Before	<#mm/dd/yyyy#	Searches for dates before a certain date
After	>#mm/dd/yyyy#	Searches for dates after a certain date
Today	=Date()	Searches for all records containing today's date
Days Before Today	<=Date()-x	Searches for all records containing dates x or more days in the past

Query Criteria Quick Reference Guide

Simple criteria for all data types:

Simple criteria for text:

Simple criteria for numbers:

Simple criteria for dates:

To learn more, go to edu.gcfglobal.org/access