Skip to main content

DROP TABLE

— remove a table

Synopsis​

DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] <name> [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

Description​

DROP TABLE removes one or more tables from the database. To empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE or TRUNCATE.

Parameters​

IF EXISTS
Do not throw an error if the table does not exist.
<name>
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.
CASCADE
Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views), and in turn all objects that depend on those objects.
RESTRICT
Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.

Examples​

To destroy two tables, films and distributors:

DROP TABLE films, distributors;

Compatibility​

This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the standard only allows one table to be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a Hyper extension (also available in PostgreSQL).