Dark code

  HTML   
 Menu  Log in

SQL ALTER TABLE

Statement
‹ Previous Next ›

SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add,
delete, or modify columns in an existing table.

The ALTER TABLE statement is also used to

add and drop various constraints on an
existing table.

ALTER TABLE - ADD Column

To add a column in a table, use the following
syntax:

ALTER TABLE table_name

ADD column_name datatype;

The following SQL adds an "Email" column to

the "Customers" table:

Example

ALTER TABLE Customers

ADD Email varchar(255);

Try it Yourself »

ALTER TABLE - DROP

COLUMN
To delete a column in a table, use the following
syntax (notice that some database systems
don't allow deleting a column):

ALTER TABLE table_name

DROP COLUMN column_name;

The following SQL deletes the "Email" column

from the "Customers" table:

Example

ALTER TABLE Customers

DROP COLUMN Email;

Try it Yourself »

ALTER TABLE -
ALTER/MODIFY COLUMN
To change the data type of a column in a
table, use the following syntax:

SQL Server / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE table_name

ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype;

My SQL / Oracle (prior version 10G):

ALTER TABLE table_name

MODIFY COLUMN column_name datatype;

Oracle 10G and later:

ALTER TABLE table_name

MODIFY column_name datatype;

ADVERTISEMENT

SQL ALTER TABLE Example

Look at the "Persons" table:

LastName FirstName Address City

Hansen Ola Timoteivn Sandnes

10

Svendson Tove Borgvn Sandnes

23

Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Now we want to add a column named

"DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons

ADD DateOfBirth date;

Notice that the new column, "DateOfBirth", is

of type date and is going to hold a date. The
data type specifies what type of data the
column can hold. For a complete reference of
all the data types available in MS Access,
MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete
Data Types reference.

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

rstName Address City DateOfBirth

a Timoteivn Sandnes
10

ve Borgvn Sandnes
23

ri Storgt 20 Stavanger

Change Data Type Example

Now we want to change the data type of the
column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons"
table.

We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons

ALTER COLUMN DateOfBirth year;

Notice that the "DateOfBirth" column is now of

type year and is going to hold a year in a two-
or four-digit format.

DROP COLUMN Example

Next, we want to delete the column named
"DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

ALTER TABLE Persons

DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth;

The "Persons" table will now look like this:

ID LastName FirstName Address City

1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn San

10

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn San

23

3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stav

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Add a column of type DATE called
Birthday .

Persons
;

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

‹ Previous Next ›

ADVERTISEMENT

NEW

We just launched
W3Schools videos

Explore now

COLOR PICKER



Get certified
by completing
a SQL
course today!

school
w3 s
2
CE

02

TI 2
R

FI
ED .

Get started

CODE GAME

Play Game

ADVERTISEMENT

Report Error

Forum

About

Buy Certificate

Top Tutorials
HTML Tutorial
CSS Tutorial
JavaScript Tutorial
How To Tutorial
SQL Tutorial
Python Tutorial
W3.CSS Tutorial
Bootstrap Tutorial
PHP Tutorial
Java Tutorial
C++ Tutorial
jQuery Tutorial

Top References
HTML Reference
CSS Reference
JavaScript Reference
SQL Reference
Python Reference
W3.CSS Reference
Bootstrap Reference
PHP Reference
HTML Colors
Java Reference
Angular Reference
jQuery Reference

Top Examples
HTML Examples
CSS Examples
JavaScript Examples
How To Examples
SQL Examples
Python Examples
W3.CSS Examples
Bootstrap Examples
PHP Examples
Java Examples
XML Examples
jQuery Examples

Web Courses
HTML Course
CSS Course
JavaScript Course
Front End Course
SQL Course
Python Course
PHP Course
jQuery Course
Java Course
C++ Course
C# Course
XML Course

Get Certified »

W3Schools is optimized for learning and training.

Examples might be simplified to improve reading and
learning. Tutorials, references, and examples are
constantly reviewed to avoid errors, but we cannot
warrant full correctness of all content. While using
W3Schools, you agree to have read and accepted our
terms of use, cookie and privacy policy.

Copyright 1999-2022 by Refsnes Data. All Rights

Reserved.
W3Schools is Powered by W3.CSS.