 Tutorials  References  Menu  Paid Courses Log in

  HTML CSS JAVASCRIPT SQL PYTHON   

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;

SQL ALTER TABLE Example

Look at the "Persons" table:

ID LastName FirstName Address City

1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

3 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:

ID LastName FirstName Address City DateOfBirth

1 Hansen Ola Timoteivn 10 Sandnes  

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes  

3 Pettersen Kari 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 10 Sandnes

2 Svendson Tove Borgvn 23 Sandnes

3 Pettersen Kari Storgt 20 Stavanger

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Add a column of type DATE called Birthday .

Persons

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

❮ Previous Next ❯
Create your own website


with W3schools Spaces

Get started

COLOR PICKER

LIKE US




 Get certified

by completing

a course today!

school
w3 s

1
CE

02
TI 2

R
FI .
ED

Get started

CODE GAME
 Play Game

Report Error Forum About Shop

Top Tutorials Top References

HTML Tutorial
HTML Reference

CSS Tutorial
CSS Reference

JavaScript Tutorial
JavaScript Reference

How To Tutorial
SQL Reference

SQL Tutorial
Python Reference

Python Tutorial
W3.CSS Reference

W3.CSS Tutorial
Bootstrap Reference

Bootstrap Tutorial
PHP Reference

PHP Tutorial
HTML Colors

Java Tutorial
Java Reference

C++ Tutorial
Angular Reference

jQuery Tutorial
jQuery Reference

Top Examples Web Courses

HTML Examples
HTML Course

CSS Examples
CSS Course

JavaScript Examples
JavaScript Course

How To Examples
Front End Course

SQL Examples
SQL Course

Python Examples
Python Course

 W3.CSS Examples
PHP Course

Bootstrap Examples
jQuery Course

PHP Examples
Java Course

Java Examples
C++ Course

XML Examples
C# Course

jQuery Examples
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 1999-2021 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved.

W3Schools is Powered by W3.CSS.