SQL DELETE Statement

The SQL DELETE Statement is used to delete one or more existing records from a table or a view. In this article, we will show you, How to write SQL Server Delete statement.

The basic syntax of SQL Server delete statement is as shown below:

-- SQL Server DELETE Syntax
DELETE FROM [Table_Name] 
  WHERE Condition

• Table_Name: Please provide the fully qualifies Table name from which you want to delete the records
• Condition: Here we have to provide the filters or conditions. If the condition is TRUE then only DELETE Statement will delete the records.

From the below screenshot you can observe that We have [SQL Delete] table in [SQL Tutorial] and it holds 15 records.

Here, we are going to perform the different types of delete operations on this Sql Server table

SQL Delete Single record

In this example, We are going to delete a single record from [SQL Delete] Table. For this, we are using the Where Clause to restrict the Delete Statement to delete a single record.

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]
  WHERE [EmpID] = 2

From the below screenshot you can observe that it had deleted the employee record, whose ID value = 103

SQL Delete Multiple records

In this example, We are going to use AND Operator in Where Clause to check multiple conditions before it starts deleting a record from [SQL Delete] Table.

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]
  WHERE [Education] = 'Partial High School' AND
        [YearlyIncome] = 45000

Above query will delete all the records from [SQL Delete] table, whose Education is Partial High School, and Yearly Income is 45000

SQL Delete Top Clause

In this Sql Server delete statement example, We are going to delete the first record from [SQL Delete] table, whose yearly income is less than or equal to 5000. For this, we are using the TOP Clause.

-- SQL DELETE Query
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE TOP (1) 
FROM [SQL Delete]
  WHERE [YearlyIncome] <= 50000

Above query will check for the records whose yearly income is less than or equal to 5000, and then TOP Clause will select the First record.

Delete Join

In this example, We are going to delete the records from [SQL Delete] Table based on the Department name in another table. For this, we are using Inner Join along with SQL delete statement to join two tables.

The following screenshot will show you the data inside the Department table.

SQL CODE

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE del
FROM [SQL Delete] AS del
INNER JOIN
      Department AS dept ON
	 del.[DeptID] = dept.id
WHERE dept.DepartmentName = 'Sr. Software Developer'

From the below screenshot you can observe that it had deleted all the records from [SQL Delete] table, whose department name is Sr. Software Developer. Remember, Department name is coming from Department Table.

Delete subquery

In this SQL delete statement with subquery example, We are going to delete the records from [SQL Delete] Table based on the Department name in another table. For this, we are using Subquery.

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]
WHERE [DeptID] IN
	(
	  SELECT id FROM Department
	    WHERE DepartmentName = 'Module Lead'
	)

The following screenshot will delete all the records from [SQL Delete] table, whose department name is Module lead.

SQL Delete All Columns

In this Sql Server delete statement example, We are going to delete all the Columns present in the [SQL Delete] table using SQL delete statement

-- SQL Server DELETE Query
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]

OUTPUT

NOTE: If you accidentally forgot the Where Clause then you will end up deleting all the records from Source.

Delete Statement using Management Studio

If you can access the Management Studio in SQL Server then you can use the Intellisense to write this Delete Statement. To do so, first Navigate to the required Database and then select the required Table. Right Click on the Table will open the Context Menu with different options

Select Script Table as -> Delete To -> New Query Editor Window

Once you selected the New Query Editor Window, SQL will generate a delete statement for the selected table as we shown below

and the Code

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO

DELETE FROM [dbo].[SQL Delete]
      WHERE <Search Conditions,,>
GO

Let us add the Search Condition

-- SQL Server DELETE Example
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO

DELETE FROM [dbo].[SQL Delete]
      WHERE [EmpID] = 1
GO

OUTPUT

SQL Server Delete Stored Procedure

In this example, we will show you, How to use the SQL Server Delete Statement inside a Stored procedure

From the below code snippet you can see that, we are deleting records whose Occupation equals to Clerical or their yearly income is less than or equal to 60000

-- SQL Server Delete Stored Procedure
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO

IF OBJECT_ID ( 'sp_DeleteEmpRecords', 'P' ) IS NOT NULL   
    DROP PROCEDURE sp_DeleteEmpRecords;  
GO

CREATE PROCEDURE sp_DeleteEmpRecords
AS
	BEGIN
		SET NOCOUNT ON;

		DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]
		WHERE Occupation = 'Clerical' OR
			YearlyIncome <= 60000
	END
GO

OUTPUT

Let me use EXEC Command (Execute Command) to execute the Delete stored procedure

-- Executing SQL Server Delete Stored Procedure
USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO

EXEC dbo.sp_DeleteEmpRecords
GO

OUTPUT

Now, let us see whether the execution of the stored procedure removed or deleted the records in our table or not

USE [SQL Tutorial]
GO
-- Select all records from a Table after executing SP
SELECT [EmpID], [FirstName], [LastName], [Education], [Occupation], 
		[YearlyIncome], [Sales], [HireDate], [DeptID]
FROM [SQL Delete]

OUTPUT

Delete Between example

In this Sql Server delete statement example, We are going to use the BETWEEN Operator to delete the records between two dates.

DELETE 
FROM [SQL Delete]
WHERE [HireDate] BETWEEN '2016-01-27- AND '2007-01-28'

OUTPUT

Above query will delete all the records whose Hire date is between 2006-01-27 and 2007-01-28

OUTPUT

SQL Delete If Exists example

While deleting a record from a table, it iOS always a good practice to check whether the records exists or not.

In this example, We are going to use the EXISTS Operator to check the records in Delete table against the department table. If they exists and their last name is ‘Tutorial Gateway’ then delete that record.

DELETE FROM [SQL Delete]
WHERE EXISTS (
      SELECT * FROM Department
      WHERE [SQL Delete].DeptID = Department.id
      AND [SQL Delete].LastName = 'Tutorial Gateway'

OUTPUT

and the remaining data is

Delete IS Null example

Before we start Sql Server Delete Is Null demonstrating this example, let me show you the data

In this delete command example, we are going to delete all the employees whose Age is NULL. For this, we used the IS NULL operator.

DELETE 
FROM [SQL Delete]
WHERE [Age] IS NULL

OUTPUT

and the remaining data is