SQL OR

The SQL OR Operator

The WHERE clause may include one or more OR operators.

The OR operator is utilized to filter records based on multiple conditions, such as returning all customers from either Germany or Spain.

Example

Retrieve all customers from either Germany or Spain.

SELECT *
FROM Customers
WHERE Country = ‘Germany’ OR Country = ‘Spain’;

Syntax

SELECT column1, column2, ...

FROM table_name

WHERE condition1 OR condition2 OR condition3 ...;

OR vs AND

The OR operator displays a record if any of the conditions are TRUE.

The AND operator displays a record if all the conditions are TRUE.

Demo Database

Here is a excerpt from the Customers table utilized in the examples:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

At Least One Condition Must Be True

The following SQL statement retrieves all fields from the Customers table where either the City is “Berlin”, the CustomerName starts with the letter “G”, or the Country is “Norway”.

Example

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE City = ‘Berlin’ OR CustomerName LIKE ‘G%’ OR Country = ‘Norway’;

Combining AND and OR

Combining the AND and OR operators is possible.
The following SQL statement selects all customers from Spain whose names start with either “G” or “R”.
Ensure to use parentheses for the correct result.

Example

Retrieve all Spanish customers whose names begin with either “G” or “R”.

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country = ‘Spain’ AND (CustomerName LIKE ‘G%’ OR CustomerName LIKE ‘R%’);

Without parentheses, the select statement will return all customers from Spain whose names start with “G”, as well as all customers whose names start with “R”, irrespective of their country value.

Example

Retrieve all customers who either:
Are from Spain and their names begin with either “G”, or
Their names start with the letter “R”.

SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country = ‘Spain’ AND CustomerName LIKE ‘G%’ OR CustomerName LIKE ‘R%’;