SQL DELETE

The DELETE statement is used to delete records in a table.

The DELETE statement is used to delete rows in a table.

SQL DELETE Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE some_column=some_value

Note: Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE syntax. The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be deleted. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be deleted!

SQL DELETE Example

The "Persons" table:

Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Navis	Anto	Madras	TVL
2	Ji	Bala	Bombay	TVL
3	Christopher	Franklin	America	KK
4	Nilsen	Johan	Bakken 2	KK
5	Tjessem	Jakob	Nissestien 67	TVL

Now we want to delete the person "Tjessem, Jakob" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

DELETE FROM Persons WHERE LastName='Tjessem' AND FirstName='Jakob'

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

Id	LastName	FirstName	Address	City
1	Navis	Anto	Madras	TVL
2	Ji	Bala	Bombay	TVL
3	Christopher	Franklin	America	KK
4	Nilsen	Johan	Bakken 2	KK

Delete All Rows

It is possible to delete all rows in a table without deleting the table. This means that the table structure, attributes, and indexes will be intact:

DELETE FROM table_name or DELETE * FROM table_name

Note: Be very careful when deleting records. You cannot undo this statement!