SQL Server SUBSTRING() Function

Extract 3 characters from a string, starting in position 1:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SQL Tutorial', 1, 3) AS ExtractString;

Definition and Usage

The SUBSTRING() function extracts some characters from a string.

SUBSTRING(string, start, length)

Parameter	Description
string	Required. The string to extract from
start	Required. The start position. The first position in string is 1
length	Required. The number of characters to extract. Must be a positive number

Works in:	SQL Server (starting with 2008), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse

Extract 5 characters from the "CustomerName" column, starting in position 1:

SELECT SUBSTRING(CustomerName, 1, 5) AS ExtractString
FROM Customers;

Extract 100 characters from a string, starting in position 1:

SELECT SUBSTRING('SQL Tutorial', 1, 100) AS ExtractString;