DELETE FROM

DELETE FROM permanently removes specific rows from a table based on conditions you set - skip those conditions, though, and it wipes every row, just like TRUNCATE.

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About 5–10 minutes · no sign-up needed

Example

Deleting Specific Retail Return Rows with DELETE FROM

DELETE FROM returns_staging
WHERE status = 'cancelled'

Result:

Step by step

Run DELETE FROM with no WHERE and every row is gone. Almost never what you want.
```
-- Don't do this:
DELETE FROM returns_staging;
```
WHERE narrows DELETE to just the rows that match. Only matching rows are removed.
```
DELETE FROM returns_staging
WHERE status = 'cancelled';
```

BEGIN ... DELETE ... and ROLLBACK or COMMIT lets you preview what would be deleted before committing.

BEGIN;
DELETE FROM returns_staging
WHERE status = 'cancelled';
-- inspect the result, then:
COMMIT;  -- or ROLLBACK;

Practice

Try each one in your head first, then open the answer.

1. Write a DELETE statement to remove rows from products where product_id equals 'P2001'.

DELETE FROM products WHERE product_id = 'P2001'

2. Write a DELETE statement to remove rows from customers where phone equals '555-382-9104'.

DELETE FROM customers WHERE phone = '555-382-9104'

3. Write a DELETE statement to remove rows from orders where customer_id equals 'C101'.

DELETE FROM orders WHERE customer_id = 'C101'

4. Write a DELETE statement to remove rows from inventory where warehouse equals 'East'.

DELETE FROM inventory WHERE warehouse = 'East'

5. Write a DELETE statement to remove rows from suppliers where country equals 'Norway'.

DELETE FROM suppliers WHERE country = 'Norway'

Learn it by doing. This lesson is a short hands-on level on Bampaa: see it work, then build and write it yourself, with instant feedback.

Try this lesson free →

About 5–10 minutes · no sign-up needed