---
title: 'How to Create Superuser in PostgreSQL'
page_title: 'How to Create Superuser in PostgreSQL'
page_description: 'In this tutorial, you will learn about PostgreSQL superusers and how to create them using the CREATE ROLE statement.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-administration/create-superuser-postgresql/'
ogImage: ''
updatedOn: '2024-02-22T08:40:18+00:00'
enableTableOfContents: true
previousLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL List Users'
  slug: 'postgresql-administration/postgresql-list-users'
nextLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL Row-Level Security'
  slug: 'postgresql-administration/postgresql-row-level-security'
---

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn about PostgreSQL superusers and how to create them using the `CREATE` `ROLE` statement.

## Introduction to PostgreSQL superuser

In PostgreSQL, a superuser is a special role with the highest privileges. A superuser has full access to all databases and tables. Additionally, it can perform administrative tasks such as [creating databases](postgresql-create-database), [dropping databases](postgresql-drop-database), [managing user roles](postgresql-roles), modifying database configuration, and so on.

In other words, a superuser can bypass all security checks except the right to log in.

<Admonition type="tip" title="Neon Note">
Neon is a managed Postgres service, so you cannot access the host operating system or connect using the Postgres `superuser` account like you can in a standalone Postgres installation. Instead, Neon provides the `neon_superuser` role with elevated privileges. For more information about roles in Neon, see [Manage roles](/docs/manage/roles).
</Admonition>

By default, PostgreSQL has a superuser role called `postgres`. Typically, you use the `postgres` user role for performing administrative tasks and don’t need to create additional users with the superuser privilege.

However, if you need additional superuser roles, you can create them using the `CREATE ROLE` statement or change a regular user to a superuser using the `ALTER ROLE` statement.

### Creating new superusers

First, connect to the PostgreSQL database using a client such as `psql`:

```bash
psql -U postgres
```

Second, execute the following `CREATE ROLE` command to create a superuser:

```sql
CREATE ROLE username SUPERUSER;
```

You need to replace `username` with your desired username for the superuser. For example:

```sql
CREATE ROLE spiderman SUPERUSER
LOGIN
PASSWORD 'moreSecurePass';
```

Third, verify the user creation:

```text
\du spiderman
```

Output:

```text
     List of roles
 Role name | Attributes
-----------+------------
 spiderman | Superuser
```

The output indicates that `spiderman` role is a superuser.

### Changing a user to a superuser

It’s possible to change a user to a superuser using the `ALTER` `ROLE` statement.

First, create a regular role with a login privilege and a password:

```sql
CREATE ROLE batman LOGIN PASSWORD 'moreSecurePass';
```

Second, make the `batman` role become a superuser using the `ALTER` `ROLE` statement:

```sql
ALTER ROLE batman SUPERUSER;
```

Third, verify the user modification:

```text
\du batman
```

Output:

```text
     List of roles
 Role name | Attributes
-----------+------------
 batman    | Superuser
```

### Revoking superuser from a user

To revoke a superuser status of a user, you can use the following `ALTER` `ROLE` statement:

```sql
ALTER USER username NOSUPERUSER;
```

For example, the following statement revokes the `SUPERUSER` status from the `spiderman` role:

```sql
ALTER USER spiderman NOSUPERUSER;
```

You can verify the `spiderman` role as follows:

```text
\du spiderman
```

Output:

```text
     List of roles
 Role name | Attributes
-----------+------------
 spiderman |
```

## Summary

- In PostgreSQL, a superuser bypass all permission checks except the permission to log in.
- Use the `CREATE ROLE...SUPERUSER` statement to create a superuser.
- Use the `ALTER ROLE...SUPERUSER` statement to make a role a superuser.
- Use the `ALTER ROLE...NOSUPERUSER` statement to revoke the superuser from a user.