How to Delete Rows in MariaDB

How do I delete specific rows in MariaDB without removing entire tables?

DELETE removes one or many rows from a table based on an optional WHERE filter.

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Description

What does DELETE do in MariaDB?

DELETE permanently removes rows from a table. When no WHERE clause is provided, all rows are deleted. Adding WHERE, JOIN, LIMIT, or ORDER BY lets you target specific records.

What is the basic syntax?

Use DELETE FROM followed by the table name and an optional WHERE clause.LIMIT and ORDER BY control how many and which rows are deleted.

How to delete one order by ID?

DELETE FROM Orders WHERE id = 42; removes only the order whose primary key equals 42.

How to delete multiple orders in a date range?

DELETE FROM Orders WHERE order_date < '2023-01-01'; quickly clears out legacy orders created before 2023.

How to delete rows using JOIN?

DELETE oi FROM OrderItems oi JOIN Products p ON p.id = oi.product_id WHERE p.stock = 0; removes items linked to out-of-stock products.

How to preview deletions safely?

Run SELECT * FROM Orders WHERE total_amount = 0; first.Once confirmed, swap SELECT with DELETE. This prevents accidental mass deletion.

Best practices for DELETE performance?

Always index columns in the WHERE clause, delete in small batches with LIMIT, disable foreign-key checks only when necessary, and monitor transaction size.

Common mistakes and fixes

Missing WHERE: Deletes all rows—always double-check. Ignoring foreign keys: May block deletion—add ON DELETE CASCADE or delete child rows first.

Why How to Delete Rows in MariaDB is important

How to Delete Rows in MariaDB Example Usage


-- Remove all zero-quantity items from an order
DELETE oi
FROM OrderItems oi
JOIN Orders o ON o.id = oi.order_id
WHERE o.id = 101 AND oi.quantity = 0;

How to Delete Rows in MariaDB Syntax


DELETE [LOW_PRIORITY] [QUICK] [IGNORE]
FROM table_name
[PARTITION (p0,p1,...)]
[USING table_references]
[WHERE where_condition]
[ORDER BY expression [ASC|DESC]]
[LIMIT row_count];

-- Delete a single customer
DELETE FROM Customers WHERE id = 15;

-- Delete orders older than a year, 500 rows at a time
DELETE FROM Orders WHERE order_date < CURDATE() - INTERVAL 1 YEAR ORDER BY id LIMIT 500;

Common Mistakes

Omitting the WHERE clause deletes the entire table. Always preview with SELECT and confirm the filter conditions before running DELETE.
Forgetting indexed columns in the WHERE clause causes full table scans and slow deletes. Create or use existing indexes on the filtered columns.