Description

DELETE removes rows which satisfy the WHERE clause from the specified table.

If the condition (WHERE clause) is absent, the effect is to delete all rows in the table. The result is a valid, but empty table.

By default DELETE will delete tuples in the table specified and all its sub-tables. If you wish to only update the specific table mentioned, you should use the ONLY clause.

You must have write access to the table in order to modify it, as well as read access to any table whose values are read in the condition.

Usage

Remove all films but musicals:

DELETE FROM films WHERE kind <> 'Musical';
SELECT * FROM films;

 code  |           title           | did | date_prod  |  kind   | len
-------+---------------------------+-----+------------+---------+-------
 UA501 | West Side Story           | 105 | 1961-01-03 | Musical | 02:32
 TC901 | The King and I            | 109 | 1956-08-11 | Musical | 02:13
 WD101 | Bed Knobs and Broomsticks | 111 |            | Musical | 01:57
(3 rows)

Clear the table films:

DELETE FROM films;
SELECT * FROM films;

 code | title | did | date_prod | kind | len
------+-------+-----+-----------+------+-----
(0 rows)

Compatibility

DELETE FROM table WHERE
    CURRENT OF cursor