man > DROP_TABLE(7)

DROP TABLE(7)                      PostgreSQL 16.14 Documentation                      DROP TABLE(7)

NAME
       DROP_TABLE - remove a table

SYNOPSIS
       DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

DESCRIPTION
       DROP TABLE removes tables from the database. Only the table owner, the schema owner, and
       superuser can drop a table. To empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE
       or TRUNCATE.

       DROP TABLE always removes any indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints that exist for the
       target table. However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key
       constraint of another table, CASCADE must be specified. (CASCADE will remove a dependent view
       entirely, but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key constraint, not the
       other table entirely.)

PARAMETERS
       IF EXISTS
           Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.

       name
           The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.

       CASCADE
           Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views), and in turn all
           objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.14).

       RESTRICT
           Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.

EXAMPLES
       To destroy two tables, films and distributors:

           DROP TABLE films, distributors;

COMPATIBILITY
       This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the standard only allows one table to
       be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a PostgreSQL extension.

SEE ALSO
       ALTER TABLE (ALTER_TABLE(7)), CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7))

PostgreSQL 16.14                                2026                                   DROP TABLE(7)