SQL UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update records in a table.

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The SQL UPDATE Statement

The UPDATE statement is used to update existing records in a table.

SQL UPDATE Syntax

UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value1,column2=value2,...
WHERE some_column=some_value;

Notice the WHERE clause in the SQL UPDATE statement!
The WHERE clause specifies which record or records that should be updated. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

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Demo Database

In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database.

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

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SQL UPDATE Example

Assume we wish to update the customer "Alfreds Futterkiste" with a new contact person and city.

We use the following SQL statement:

Example

UPDATE Customers
SET ContactName='Alfred Schmidt', City='Hamburg'
WHERE CustomerName='Alfreds Futterkiste';

The selection from the "Customers" table will now look like this:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Alfred Schmidt	Obere Str. 57	Hamburg	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Thomas Hardy	120 Hanover Sq.	London	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Christina Berglund	Berguvsvägen 8	Luleå	S-958 22	Sweden

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Update Warning!

Be careful when updating records. If we had omitted the WHERE clause, in the example above, like this:

UPDATE Customers
SET ContactName='Alfred Schmidt', City='Hamburg';

The "Customers" table would have looked like this:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Alfred Schmidt	Obere Str. 57	Hamburg	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Alfred Schmidt	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	Hamburg	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Alfred Schmidt	Mataderos 2312	Hamburg	05023	Mexico
4	Around the Horn	Alfred Schmidt	120 Hanover Sq.	Hamburg	WA1 1DP	UK
5	Berglunds snabbköp	Alfred Schmidt	Berguvsvägen 8	Hamburg	S-958 22	Sweden