SQL Drop Database Statement
In this lesson, you will learn how to delete a database using SQL.
Drop database in SQL
The DROP DATABASE statement is used to delete an existing SQL database.
Syntax
DROP DATABASE database_name;
You should replace database_name with the name of the database that you want to delete.
Delete database example
The following SQL statement deletes the database "demo" that we created in the previous lesson.
Example
DROP DATABASE demo;
Output
The output means that the statement is executed succesfully.
Check if the database is deleted
You can use the following SQL statement to view a list of all existing databases. If the "demo" database is not showing that means it was deleted.
Example
SHOW DATABASES;
Output
| Database |
|---|
| sakila |
| sys |
| world |
| .... |
The output means that the database is successfully deleted.
If the deleted database is still appears in the MySQL Workbench navigator, just click on the refresh button.
Best way to delete a database
It's recommended to use the optional clause IF EXISTS to be sure that the statement will execute only if the database is exist.
If you try to delete the "demo" database again without the optional clause IF EXISTS, you will get an error as follows.
Example
DROP DATABASE demo;
Output
However, if you try to delete the "demo" database with the optional clause IF EXISTS, you will get a warning message instead of the error message.
Example
DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS demo;
Output
