The ALTER TABLE Statement
The ALTER TABLE statement is used to add, delete, or modify columns in an existing table.
SQL ALTER TABLE Syntax
To add a column in a table, use the following syntax:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name datatype
To delete a column in a table, use the following syntax (notice that some database systems don't allow deleting a column):
ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name
To change the data type of a column in a table, use the following syntax:
SQL Server / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE table_name
ALTER COLUMN column_name datatype
My SQL / Oracle (prior version 10G):
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN column_name datatype
Oracle 10G and later:
ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY column_name datatype
SQL ALTER TABLE Example
Look at the "Persons" table:
| P_Id | LastName | FirstName | Address | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hansen | Ola | Timoteivn 10 | Sandnes |
| 2 | Svendson | Tove | Borgvn 23 | Sandnes |
| 3 | Pettersen | Kari | Storgt 20 | Stavanger |
Now we want to add a column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.
We use the following SQL statement:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD DateOfBirth date
Notice that the new column, "DateOfBirth", is of type date and is going to hold a date. The data type specifies what type of data the column can hold. For a complete reference of all the data types available in MS Access, MySQL, and SQL Server, go to our complete Data Types reference.
The "Persons" table will now look like this:
| P_Id | LastName | FirstName | Address | City | DateOfBirth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hansen | Ola | Timoteivn 10 | Sandnes | |
| 2 | Svendson | Tove | Borgvn 23 | Sandnes | |
| 3 | Pettersen | Kari | Storgt 20 | Stavanger |
Change Data Type Example
Now we want to change the data type of the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.
We use the following SQL statement:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN DateOfBirth year
Notice that the "DateOfBirth" column is now of type year and is going to hold a year in a two-digit or four-digit format.
DROP COLUMN Example
Next, we want to delete the column named "DateOfBirth" in the "Persons" table.
We use the following SQL statement:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP COLUMN DateOfBirth
The "Persons" table will now look like this:
| P_Id | LastName | FirstName | Address | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hansen | Ola | Timoteivn 10 | Sandnes |
| 2 | Svendson | Tove | Borgvn 23 | Sandnes |
| 3 | Pettersen | Kari | Storgt 20 | Stavanger |