--- title: "DELETE" source: https://cloudberry.apache.org/docs/sql-stmts/delete --- # DELETE Deletes rows from a table. ## Synopsis ```sql [ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] [, ...] ] DELETE FROM [ONLY] [[AS] ]       [USING [, ...] ]       [WHERE | WHERE CURRENT OF ] [RETURNING * | [[AS] ] [, …]] ``` ## Description `DELETE` deletes rows that satisfy the `WHERE` clause from the specified table. If the `WHERE` clause is absent, the effect is to delete all rows in the table. The result is a valid, but empty table. **Tip:** [TRUNCATE](/docs/sql-stmts/truncate.md) provides a faster mechanism to remove all rows from a table. There are two ways to delete rows in a table using information contained in other tables in the database: using sub-selects, or specifying additional tables in the `USING` clause. Which technique is more appropriate depends on the specific circumstances. The optional `RETURNING` clause causes `DELETE` to compute and return value(s) based on each row actually deleted. Any expression using the table's columns, and/or columns of other tables mentioned in `USING`, can be computed. The syntax of the `RETURNING` list is identical to that of the output list of `SELECT`. You must have the `DELETE` privilege on the table to delete from it, as well as the `SELECT` privilege for any table in the `USING` clause or whose values are read in the condition. > **Note** The `RETURNING` clause is not supported when deleting from append-optimized tables. > **Note** As the default, Apache Cloudberry acquires an `EXCLUSIVE` lock on tables for `DELETE` operations on heap tables. When the Global Deadlock Detector is enabled, the lock mode for `DELETE` operations on heap tables is `ROW EXCLUSIVE`. ## Parameters **`with_query`** The `WITH` clause allows you to specify one or more subqueries that can be referenced by name in the `DELETE` query. For a `DELETE` command that includes a `WITH` clause, the clause can only contain `SELECT` statements, the `WITH` clause cannot contain a data-modifying command (`INSERT`, `UPDATE`, or `DELETE`). See [SELECT](/docs/sql-stmts/select.md) for details. **`table_name`** The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to delete rows from. If you specify `ONLY` before the table name, Apache Cloudberry deletes matching rows from the named table only. If `ONLY` is not specified, matching rows are also deleted from any tables inheriting from the named table. Optionally, you can specify `*` after the table name to explicitly indicate that descendant tables are included. **`alias`** A substitute name for the target table. When an alias is provided, it completely hides the actual name of the table. For example, given `DELETE FROM foo AS f`, the remainder of the `DELETE` statement must refer to this table as `f` not `foo`. **`from_item`** A table expression allowing columns from other tables to appear in the `WHERE` condition. This uses the same syntax as the `FROM` clause of a [SELECT](/docs/sql-stmts/select.md) statement; for example, you can specify an alias for the table name. Do not repeat the target table in the from_item, unless you wish to set up a self-join (in which case it must appear with an alias in the from_item). **`condition`** An expression that returns a value of type `boolean`. Apache Cloudberry deletes only those rows for which this expression returns `true`. **`cursor_name`** The name of the cursor to use in a `WHERE CURRENT OF` condition. The row to be deleted is the one most recently fetched from this cursor. The cursor must be a non-grouping query on the `DELETE`'s target table. Note that `WHERE CURRENT OF` cannot be specified together with a Boolean condition. See [DECLARE](/docs/sql-stmts/declare.md) for more information about using cursors with `WHERE CURRENT OF`. The `DELETE...WHERE CURRENT OF` cursor statement can only be run on the server, for example in an interactive psql session or a script. Language extensions such as PL/pgSQL do not have support for updatable cursors. **`output_expression`** An expression to be computed and returned by the `DELETE` command after each row is deleted. The expression can use any column names of the table named by table_name or table(s) listed in `USING`. Write `*` to return all columns. **`output_name`** A name to use for a returned column. ## Outputs On successful completion, a `DELETE` command returns a command tag of the form ```sql DELETE ``` The count is the number of rows deleted. If count is 0, no rows were deleted by the query (this is not considered an error). If the `DELETE` command contains a `RETURNING` clause, the result will be similar to that of a `SELECT` statement containing the columns and values defined in the `RETURNING` list, computed over the row(s) deleted by the command. ## Notes The `RETURNING` clause is not supported when deleting from append-optimized tables. The `WHERE CURRENT OF` clause is not supported with replicated tables. Apache Cloudberry lets you reference columns of other tables in the `WHERE` condition by specifying the other tables in the `USING` clause. For example, to delete all films produced by a given producer, one can run: ```sql DELETE FROM films USING producers WHERE producer_id = producers.id AND producers.name = 'foo'; ``` What is essentially happening here is a join between `films` and `producers`, with all successfully joined `films` rows being marked for deletion. This syntax is not standard. A more standard way to accomplish this is: ```sql DELETE FROM films WHERE producer_id IN (SELECT id FROM producers WHERE name = 'foo'); ``` For a partitioned table, all of the child tables are locked during the `DELETE` operation when the Global Deadlock Detector is not enabled (the default). Only some of the leaf child tables are locked when the Global Deadlock Detector is enabled. ## Examples Delete all films but musicals: ```sql DELETE FROM films WHERE kind <> 'Musical'; ``` Clear the table films: ```sql DELETE FROM films; ``` Delete completed tasks, returning full details of the deleted rows: ```sql DELETE FROM tasks WHERE status = 'DONE' RETURNING *; ``` Delete the row of tasks on which the cursor `c_tasks` is currently positioned: ```sql DELETE FROM tasks WHERE CURRENT OF c_tasks; ``` Delete using a join: ```sql DELETE FROM rank USING names WHERE names.id = rank.id AND name = 'Hannah'; ``` ## Compatibility This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the `USING` and `RETURNING` clauses are Apache Cloudberry extensions, as is the ability to use `WITH` with `DELETE`. ## See also [TRUNCATE](/docs/sql-stmts/truncate.md)