How to DROP COLUMN in Snowflake

How do I drop a column in Snowflake without breaking dependencies?

Removes an existing column from a Snowflake table, permanently deleting its data and metadata.

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No. DBeaver only needs the JDBC driver; the database can be remote.

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Enable Secure Storage in Preferences User Interface Security; DBeaver encrypts credentials with your OS keystore.

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Yes. Create one connection, then right-click Copy Connection, change host and database, and save.

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Why How to DROP COLUMN in Snowflake is important

How to DROP COLUMN in Snowflake Example Usage


-- Drop the temporary "temp_total" column after migration
ALTER TABLE Orders DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS temp_total RESTRICT;

How to DROP COLUMN in Snowflake Syntax


ALTER TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] <table_name>
    DROP { COLUMN | COLUMN IF EXISTS } <column_name> [ , <column_name> ... ]
    [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ];

-- Ecommerce context examples
-- Remove obsolete "discount" column from Orders
ALTER TABLE Orders DROP COLUMN discount RESTRICT;

-- Remove multiple staging columns at once
ALTER TABLE Customers DROP COLUMN temp_flag, old_email CASCADE;

Common Mistakes

Forgetting IF EXISTS. Running ALTER TABLE … DROP COLUMN without the clause raises an error if the column is already gone. Always add IF EXISTS in automated scripts.
Using CASCADE blindly. CASCADE removes dependent views and constraints, which may be hard to recreate. Prefer RESTRICT, resolve dependencies manually, then drop the column.