DROP TABLE

MySQL DROP TABLE statement syntax

To remove existing tables, you use the MySQL DROP TABLE statement.

Here is the basic syntax of the DROP TABLE statement:

DROP [TEMPORARY] TABLE [IF EXISTS] 
table_name [, table_name] ...
[RESTRICT | CASCADE]

• The DROP TABLE statement removes a table and its data permanently from the database. In MySQL, you can also remove multiple tables using a single DROP TABLE statement, each table is separated by a comma (,).
• The TEMPORARY option allows you to remove temporary tables only. It ensures that you do not accidentally remove non-temporary tables.
• The IF EXISTS option conditionally drop a table only if it exists. If you drop a non-existing table with the IF EXISTS option, MySQL generates a NOTE, which can be retrieved using the SHOW WARNINGS statement.
• Note that the DROP TABLE statement only drops tables. It doesn’t remove specific user privileges associated with the tables. Therefore, if you create a table with the same name as the dropped one, MySQL will apply the existing privileges to the new table, which may pose a security risk.
• RESTRICT | CASCADE: These are optional keywords that specify what should happen if other tables have foreign key references to the table you're trying to delete. RESTRICT prevents the deletion of the table if there are any references, while CASCADE deletes the table and any rows in other tables that reference it.

MySQL DROP TABLE examples

Let’s take some examples of using the DROP TABLE statement.