SQL DELETE Statement

The SQL DELETE Statement is used to delete one or more existing records from a table or a view. Before we get into the practical example, let us see the syntax of SQL server delete statement.

SQL DELETE Syntax

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.

In this article, we will show you, How to write DELETE in SQL Server. 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 table

SQL Delete Row – Deleting 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

OUTPUT

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

OUTPUT

SQL Delete Statement with Top Clause

In this Sql Server delete 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.

OUTPUT

SQL Delete Joins

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'

OUTPUT

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.

SQL Delete subquery

In this SQL delete statement 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'
	)

OUTPUT

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

SQL Delete Statement – SQL Server Management Studio

If you can access the SQL Server Management Studio then you can use the Intellisense to write this SQL 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 the below-shown query

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 Delete All Columns

In this Sql Server delete 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.

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