I have the following criteria in my query: like "*" & forms![forms1]![searchbox] & "*". my problem is whenever i type "?" (excluding quotations) or "*", the database returns all records. is there any way i can make my query not show all records whenever the symbols ? or * are entered in the searchbox? thanks in advance!

Welll.... I think you could either put a validation rule in your form to disallow either a * or a ? in the Searchbox field.

Another alternative might be to do some coding in the after update for Searchbox, and convert the * or ? to some value that will give you a nice default result, whatever that might be.