Home SQL PL/SQL MySQL MongoDB PostgreSQL SQL Server
SQL ALTER TABLE
The ALTER TABLE statement in Structured Query Language allows you to add, modify, and delete
columns of an existing table. This statement also allows database users to add and remove various SQL
constraints on the existing tables.
Any user can also change the name of the table using this statement.
ALTER TABLE ADD Column statement in SQL
In many situations, you may require to add the columns in the existing table. Instead of creating a
whole table or database again you can easily add single and multiple columns using the ADD keyword.
Syntax of ALTER TABLE ADD Column statement in SQL
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD column_name column-definition;
The above syntax only allows you to add a single column to the existing table. If you want to add more
than one column to the table in a single SQL statement, then use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD (column_Name1 column-definition,
column_Name2 column-definition,
.....
column_NameN column-definition);
Examples of ALTER TABLE ADD Column statement in SQL
Here, we have taken the following two different SQL examples, which will help you how to add the
single and multiple columns in the existing table using ALTER TABLE statement:
Example 1: Let's take an example of a table named Cars:
Car Name Car Color Car Cost
Hyundai Creta White 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue White 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 Red 9,00,000
Kia Sonet White 10,00,000
Kia Seltos Black 8,00,000
Swift Dezire Red 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Suppose, you want to add the new column Car_Model in the above table. For this, you have to
type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Cars ADD Car_Model Varchar(20);
This statement will add the Car_Model column to the Cars table.
Example 2: Let's take an example of a table named Employee:
Emp_Id Emp_Name Emp_Salary Emp_City
201 Abhay 25000 Goa
202 Ankit 45000 Delhi
203 Bheem 30000 Goa
204 Ram 29000 Goa
205 Sumit 40000 Delhi
Table: Employee
Suppose, you want to add two columns, Emp_ContactNo. and Emp_EmailID, in the above
Employee table. For this, you have to type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Employee ADD ( Emp_ContactNo. Number(13), Emp_EmailID varchar(50) ;
This statement will add Emp_ContactNo. and Emp_EmailID columns to the Employee table.
ALTER TABLE MODIFY Column statement in SQL
The MODIFY keyword is used for changing the column definition of the existing table.
Syntax of ALTER TABLE MODIFY Column statement in SQL
ALTER TABLE table_name MODIFY column_name column-definition;
This syntax only allows you to modify a single column of the existing table. If you want to modify more
than one column of the table in a single SQL statement, then use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY (column_Name1 column-definition,
column_Name2 column-definition,
.....
column_NameN column-definition);
Examples of ALTER TABLE MODIFY Column statement in SQL
Here, we have taken the following two different SQL examples, which will help you how to modify
single and multiple columns of the existing table using ALTER TABLE statement:
Example 1: Let's take an example of a table named Cars:
Car Name Car Color Car Cost
Hyundai Creta White 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue White 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 Red 9,00,000
Kia Sonet White 10,00,000
Kia Seltos Black 8,00,000
Swift Dezire Red 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Suppose, you want to modify the datatype of the Car_Color column of the above table. For this,
you have to type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Cars ADD Car_Color Varchar(50);
Example 2: Let's take an example of a table named Employee:
Emp_Id Emp_Name Emp_Salary Emp_City
201 Abhay 25000 Goa
202 Ankit 45000 Delhi
203 Bheem 30000 Goa
204 Ram 29000 Goa
205 Sumit 40000 Delhi
Table: Employee
Suppose, you want to modify the datatypes of two columns Emp_ContactNo. and Emp_EmailID
of the above Employee table. For this, you have to type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Employee ADD ( Emp_ContactNo. Int, Emp_EmailID varchar(80) ;
ALTER TABLE DROP Column statement in SQL
In many situations, you may require to delete the columns from the existing table. Instead of deleting
the whole table or database you can use DROP keyword for deleting the columns.
Syntax of ALTER TABLE DROP Column statement in SQL
ALTER TABLE table_name DROP Column column_name ;
Examples of ALTER TABLE DROP Column statement in SQL
Here, we have taken the following two different SQL examples, which will help you how to delete a
column from the existing table using ALTER TABLE statement:
Example 1: Let's take an example of a table named Cars:
Car Name Car Color Car Cost
Hyundai Creta White 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue White 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 Red 9,00,000
Kia Sonet White 10,00,000
Kia Seltos Black 8,00,000
Swift Dezire Red 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Suppose, you want to delete the Car_Color column from the above table. For this, you have to
type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Cars DROP COLUMN Car_Color ;
Let's check using the following statement that the Car_Color column is deleted from the table or
not:
SELECT * FROM Cars;
Car Name Car Cost
Hyundai Creta 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 9,00,000
Kia Sonet 10,00,000
Kia Seltos 8,00,000
Swift Dezire 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Example 2: Let's take an example of a table named Employee:
Emp_Id Emp_Name Emp_Salary Emp_City
201 Abhay 25000 Goa
202 Ankit 45000 Delhi
203 Bheem 30000 Goa
204 Ram 29000 Goa
205 Sumit 40000 Delhi
Table: Employee
Suppose, you want to delete the Emp_Salary and Emp_City column from the above Employee
table. For this, you have to type the following two different queries in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Cars DROP COLUMN Emp_Salary ;
ALTER TABLE Cars DROP COLUMN Emp_City ;
ALTER TABLE RENAME Column statement in SQL
The RENAME keyword is used for changing the name of columns or fields of the existing table.
Syntax of ALTER TABLE RENAME Column statement in SQL
ALTER TABLE table_name RENAME COLUMN old_name to new_name;
Examples of ALTER TABLE RENAME Column statement in SQL
Here, we have taken the following two different SQL examples, which will help you how to change the
name of a column of the existing table using ALTER TABLE statement:
Example 1: Let's take an example of a table named Cars:
Car Name Car Color Car Cost
Hyundai Creta White 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue White 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 Red 9,00,000
Kia Sonet White 10,00,000
Kia Seltos Black 8,00,000
Swift Dezire Red 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Suppose, you want to change the name of the Car_Color column of the above Cars table. For
this, you have to type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Cars RENAME COLUMN Car_Color to Colors;
This statement will change the name of a column of the Cars table. To see the changes, you have to
type the following query:
SELECT * FROM Cars;
Car Name Car Color Car Cost
Hyundai Creta White 10,85,000
Hyundai Venue White 9,50,000
Hyundai i20 Red 9,00,000
Kia Sonet White 10,00,000
Kia Seltos Black 8,00,000
Swift Dezire Red 7,95,000
Table: Cars
Example 2: Let's take an example of a table named Employee:
Emp_Id Emp_Name Emp_Salary Emp_City
201 Abhay 25000 Goa
202 Ankit 45000 Delhi
203 Bheem 30000 Goa
204 Ram 29000 Goa
205 Sumit 40000 Delhi
Table: Employee
Suppose, you want to change the name of the Emp_City column of the above Employee table.
For this, you have to type the following query in the SQL:
ALTER TABLE Employee RENAME COLUMN Emp_City to Emp_Address;
This statement will change the name of a column of the Employee table. To see the changes, you have
to type the following query:
SELECT * FROM Employee;
Emp_Id Emp_Name Emp_Salary Emp_Address
201 Abhay 25000 Goa
202 Ankit 45000 Delhi
203 Bheem 30000 Goa
204 Ram 29000 Goa
205 Sumit 40000 Delhi
Table: Employee
← Prev Next →
Youtube For Videos Join Our Youtube Channel: Join Now
Feedback
Help Others, Please Share
Learn Latest Tutorials
Splunk tutorial SPSS tutorial Swagger T-SQL tutorial
tutorial
Splunk SPSS Transact-SQL
Swagger
Tumblr tutorial React tutorial Regex tutorial Reinforcement
learning tutorial
Tumblr ReactJS Regex
Reinforcement
Learning
R Programming RxJS tutorial React Native Python Design
tutorial tutorial Patterns
RxJS
R Programming React Native Python Design
Patterns
Python Pillow Python Turtle Keras tutorial
tutorial tutorial
Keras
Python Pillow Python Turtle
Preparation
Aptitude Logical Verbal Ability Interview
Reasoning Questions
Aptitude Verbal Ability
Reasoning Interview Questions
Company
Interview
Questions
Company Questions
Trending Technologies
Artificial AWS Tutorial Selenium Cloud
Intelligence tutorial Computing
AWS
Artificial Selenium Cloud Computing
Intelligence
Hadoop tutorial ReactJS Data Science Angular 7
Tutorial Tutorial Tutorial
Hadoop
ReactJS Data Science Angular 7
Blockchain Git Tutorial Machine DevOps
Tutorial Learning Tutorial Tutorial
Git
Blockchain Machine Learning DevOps
B.Tech / MCA
DBMS tutorial Data Structures DAA tutorial Operating
tutorial System
DBMS DAA
Data Structures Operating System
Computer Compiler Computer Discrete
Network tutorial Design tutorial Organization and Mathematics
Architecture Tutorial
Computer Network Compiler Design
Computer Discrete
Organization Mathematics
Ethical Hacking Computer Software html tutorial
Graphics Tutorial Engineering
Ethical Hacking Web Technology
Computer Graphics Software
Engineering
Cyber Security Automata C Language C++ tutorial
tutorial Tutorial tutorial
C++
Cyber Security Automata C Programming
Java tutorial .Net Python tutorial List of
Framework Programs
Java Python
tutorial
Programs
.Net
Control Data Mining Data
Systems tutorial Tutorial Warehouse
Tutorial
Control System Data Mining
Data Warehouse
