SQL ALTER TABLE Statement

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 - 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 - ALTER/MODIFY COLUMN

To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:

SQL Server / MS Access:

My SQL / Oracle (prior version 10G):

Oracle 10G and later:

SQL ALTER TABLE Example

Look at the "Persons" table:

Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.

We use the following SQL statement:

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:

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:

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:

The "Persons" table will now look like this: