DELETE ​

DELETE removes rows for which the WHERE condition is SQL true. Without WHERE, it removes every row while retaining the table definition.

The deletion is applied immediately in the current transaction. Foreign-key actions apply when foreign_keys is enabled. Use DROP TABLE to remove the table itself.

Syntax ​

DELETE FROM table
[WHERE condition]
[RETURNING expression, ...]

RETURNING reads the deleted row's values. It does not return the remaining rows.

Examples ​

Removing completed work ​

CREATE TABLE queue(id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, done Bool);
INSERT INTO queue VALUES (1, true), (2, false), (3, true);

DELETE FROM queue
WHERE done
RETURNING id
FORMAT csv;

1
3

SELECT id, done
FROM queue
ORDER BY id
FORMAT csv;

2,false

Clearing a table ​

DELETE FROM queue;

SELECT count(*)
FROM queue
FORMAT csv;

0

Use transactions when a deletion must be committed or rolled back with other changes.