man > DROPDB(1)

DROPDB(1)                          PostgreSQL 16.14 Documentation                          DROPDB(1)

NAME
       dropdb - remove a PostgreSQL database

SYNOPSIS


       dropdb [connection-option...] [option...] dbname

DESCRIPTION
       dropdb destroys an existing PostgreSQL database. The user who executes this command must be a
       database superuser or the owner of the database.

       dropdb is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP DATABASE. There is no effective difference
       between dropping databases via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.

OPTIONS
       dropdb accepts the following command-line arguments:

       dbname
           Specifies the name of the database to be removed.

       -e
       --echo
           Echo the commands that dropdb generates and sends to the server.

       -f
       --force
           Attempt to terminate all existing connections to the target database before dropping it.
           See DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7)) for more information on this option.

       -i
       --interactive
           Issues a verification prompt before doing anything destructive.

       -V
       --version
           Print the dropdb version and exit.

       --if-exists
           Do not throw an error if the database does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.

       -?
       --help
           Show help about dropdb command line arguments, and exit.

       dropdb also accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:

       -h host
       --host=host
           Specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. If the value
           begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket.

       -p port
       --port=port
           Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is
           listening for connections.

       -U username
       --username=username
           User name to connect as.

       -w
       --no-password
           Never issue a password prompt. If the server requires password authentication and a
           password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt
           will fail. This option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present
           to enter a password.

       -W
       --password
           Force dropdb to prompt for a password before connecting to a database.

           This option is never essential, since dropdb will automatically prompt for a password if
           the server demands password authentication. However, dropdb will waste a connection
           attempt finding out that the server wants a password. In some cases it is worth typing -W
           to avoid the extra connection attempt.

       --maintenance-db=dbname
           Specifies the name of the database to connect to in order to drop the target database. If
           not specified, the postgres database will be used; if that does not exist (or is the
           database being dropped), template1 will be used. This can be a connection string. If so,
           connection string parameters will override any conflicting command line options.

ENVIRONMENT
       PGHOST
       PGPORT
       PGUSER
           Default connection parameters

       PG_COLOR
           Specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. Possible values are always, auto
           and never.

       This utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables
       supported by libpq (see Section 34.15).

DIAGNOSTICS
       In case of difficulty, see DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7)) and psql(1) for discussions of
       potential problems and error messages. The database server must be running at the targeted
       host. Also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq
       front-end library will apply.

EXAMPLES
       To destroy the database demo on the default database server:

           $ dropdb demo

       To destroy the database demo using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and
       a peek at the underlying command:

           $ dropdb -p 5000 -h eden -i -e demo
           Database "demo" will be permanently deleted.
           Are you sure? (y/n) y
           DROP DATABASE demo;

SEE ALSO
       createdb(1), DROP DATABASE (DROP_DATABASE(7))

PostgreSQL 16.14                                2026                                       DROPDB(1)