How to Delete a Column in SQL

 

Problem:

You want to remove a column from a table.

Example:

We would like to delete the column description from the table product.

Solution:

ALTER TABLE product DROP COLUMN description;

Discussion:

SQL provides the ALTER TABLE statement to change the structure of a table. If you’d like to remove a column from a table, use this statement.

First, write ALTER TABLE, followed by the name of the table you want to change (in our example, product). Next add the DROP COLUMN clause, followed by the name of the column you want to remove (in our example, description). This removes the column from the table, including any data stored in it.

Recommended courses:

• The Basics of Creating Tables
• Data Types in SQL
• SQL Constraints

Recommended articles:

• What Is the Benefit of Foreign Keys in SQL?
• How to Create a Table in SQL
• Referential Constraints and Foreign Keys in MySQL
• An Overview of PostgreSQL Data Types
• Understanding Numerical Data Types in SQL

See also:

• How to Drop a Table in SQL