SQL DELETE

In this tutorial, we will learn how to DELETE a record(s) from a table of a database using SQL.

SQL DELETE statement

SQL DELETE statement is used to delete the existing record in the table present in the database.

Syntax - DELETE Statement

DELETE FROM tableName 
WHERE condition;

Note:- Be careful when deleting records in a table! Notice the WHERE clause in the DELETE statement. The WHERE clause specifies which records should be deleted. If you omit or forget to use the WHERE clause, then all records in the table will be deleted!

Example:

Let us consider this table "Employee" for records.

Table Name: Employee

ID	EmpName	City	Country	Gender	Salary
1	Shankar	Delhi	India	male	25000
2	Sourabh	Delhi	India	male	30000
3	Ranvijay	Mumbai	India	male	15000
4	Kapil	Noida	India	male	25000
5	Shalini	Jaipur	India	female	18000
6	Rakesh	Faridabad	India	male	23000
7	Akshay	Mumbai	India	male	21000
8	Sarah	New York	US	female	76000
9	Rocky	Noida	India	male	28000

Example of DELETE Statement

For deleting a specific record in a table, a query will be:

Example - Deleting a specific record

DELETE FROM persons
WHERE id > 3;

Output

ID	EmpName	City	Country	Gender	Salary
1	Shankar	Delhi	India	male	25000
2	Sourabh	Delhi	India	male	30000
4	Kapil	Noida	India	male	25000
5	Shalini	Jaipur	India	female	18000
6	Rakesh	Faridabad	India	male	23000
7	Akshay	Mumbai	India	male	21000
8	Sarah	New York	US	female	76000
9	Rocky	Noida	India	male	28000

Delete from a table without using WHERE clause or DELETE all data, a query will be:

Example - DELETE all data or records

DELETE FROM persons;

Now, if you want to select the records from a table from the table "Employee", you will get an empty result-set.