Delete Rows

Remove matching rows with `DELETE`, then query the remaining table contents.

5/5 supported engines validation-green 1 example 2 scenarios

Docker-validated Not currently validation-green

Example 1

Delete one row by id

As with UPDATE, the important safety habit is to make the WHERE clause precise before running the statement.

MySQL MariaDB SQLite

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE logs (id INT, level VARCHAR(20));

INSERT INTO
  logs (id, level)
VALUES
  (1, 'info'),
  (2, 'warn'),
  (3, 'error');

Validated query

SQL

DELETE FROM logs
WHERE
  id = 2;

SELECT
  id,
  level
FROM
  logs
ORDER BY
  id;

Expected result

id	level
1	info
3	error

SQL Server PostgreSQL

Engine-specific syntax

Source table data

Setup

CREATE TABLE logs (id INT, level VARCHAR(20));

INSERT INTO
  logs (id, level)
VALUES
  (1, 'info'),
  (2, 'warn'),
  (3, 'error');

DELETE FROM logs
WHERE
  id = 2;

Validated query

SQL

SELECT
  id,
  level
FROM
  logs
ORDER BY
  id;

Expected result

id	level
1	info
3	error

This example emphasizes the remaining data rather than engine-specific delete status output.

Useful when

Where this command helps.

removing obsolete or invalid records
cleaning up seed data after a temporary workflow

Explanation

What the command is doing.

DELETE removes rows permanently unless the transaction is rolled back. Example content is usually clearest when it shows the rows that remain after the delete runs.

Delete Rows

Delete one row by id

Where this command helps.

What the command is doing.

Keep moving through nearby tasks.