Search the Tables of a MySQL Database in phpMyAdmin

What are these things?

MySQL is a database. A database stores information in tables. A table is like a spreadsheet with columns and rows. A row is one record, such as one customer or one blog post.

phpMyAdmin is a web page that lets you look at a database. You click buttons instead of typing code.

Steps

1. Log in to your hosting control panel. Open phpMyAdmin.
2. On the left, click the name of your database.
3. Click the name of the table you want to search.
4. Click the Search tab at the top.
5. You will see a box for every column. Type what you are looking for in the right box.
6. Pick an operator next to the box. An operator tells phpMyAdmin how to match. LIKE %...% finds the word anywhere in the text. The = sign finds an exact match only.
7. Click Go.

phpMyAdmin shows the rows that match. You can edit or delete a row from this list.

Search with several boxes

You can fill in more than one box. phpMyAdmin then shows only rows that match all of them. For example, fill the city box and the status box to narrow the list.

Search with a command

You can also type a command. This language is called SQL. Click the SQL tab and type this.

SELECT * FROM wp_users WHERE user_email LIKE '%example%';

This shows every row in the table wp_users whose email contains the word "example". Change the table and column names to your own.

Problems

• No results? Check the spelling. Try the LIKE operator instead of =.
• Too many results? Fill in one more box to narrow it.
• Do not click Delete on results unless you are sure. Take a backup first.

Quick recap

• Open phpMyAdmin, pick your database, then pick a table.
• Use the Search tab and type into the column box.
• Choose LIKE to find words anywhere in the text.
• Click Go to see matching rows.
• Back up before you edit or delete anything.