SQL Drop Database

In SQL, sometimes there is a need to delete or drop the database on which you are working. Deleting a database means deleting everything which includes all the data such as tables, views, indexes, schemas, constraints, etc. In order to delete a database we use the DROP DATABASE command. We generally delete a database when the database is no longer required and we want to free the memory that the database is consuming.

Syntax:

DROP DATABASE database_name;

Deleting a Database in SQL

If you’re looking forward to erasing the content of your database, just follow the steps below and your database will be permanently deleted.

Step 1: Creating a Database

To drop a database first there should be a database. So we will create a sample database and create a database using the command CREATE DATABASE. As an example, we will create a database named GeeksForGeeks.

Query

CREATE DATABASE GeeksForGeeks;

Output

Creating new database

Step 2: Retrieving List of databases

Now to confirm that the database has been created or not we will use the SHOW DATABASE command which will return a list of all the databases in the system. Now we will check the name of our database i.e. GeeksForGeeks in the list of databases.

Query

SHOW DATABASES;

Output

List of all databases

Step 3: Deleting the Database

Now after verifying that the database has been created successfully, our main task is to drop the database which we have just created so now we will delete the database GeeksForGeeks. In order to delete a entire database we use the DROP DATABASE command.

Query

DROP DATABASE GeeksForGeeks;

Output

Deleting the Database

Step 4: Verifying the deletion

After the database has been deleted/dropped successfully we will now verify that whether the database exist in the system or not. So we will once again use the SHOW DATABASES command and verify that the GeeksForGeeks database has been deleted or not.

Query

SHOW DATABASES;

Output

Deleted successfully

Conclusion

In this article, we have learned how to delete/drop a database on SQL. To summarize the article, we use the DROP DATABASE command to drop a database. We need to delete a database when the database is not required anymore and we want to free our memory. If you are also looking to drop your database then kindly follow the above mentioned steps.

FAQs on SQL Drop Database

Q1. Will dropping a database drop all the tables inside it also?

Answer:

Yes, dropping a database will drop tables, constraints, indexes everything.

Q2. Is MYSQL case sensitive?

Answer:

No MYSQL is not case sensitive, you can type both in uppercase and lowercase letters.

Q3. Is DROP and DELETE command the same?

Answer:

No DROP and DELETE command are not same. DROP command erases everything whereas DELETE command erases specific rows.