SQL DELETE Statement

The SQL DELETE Statement

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

DELETE Syntax

DELETE FROM table_name WHERE condition

Demo Database

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table in the Northwind sample database:

SQL DELETE Example

The following SQL statement deletes the customer "Alfreds Futterkiste" from the "Customers" table:

DELETE FROM Customers 
WHERE CustomerName = 'Alfreds Futterkiste'

The "Customers" table will now look like this:

Delete All Records

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

The following SQL statement deletes all rows in the "Customers" table, without deleting the table:

DELETE FROM Customers