MS SQL Server - UPDATE statement

In this article, we would like to show you how to use UPDATE statement in MS SQL Server.

Quick solution:

UPDATE [table_name]
SET [column1] = value1, [column2] = value2, ...
WHERE condition;

Note:

Be careful when updating records. If you omit the WHERE clause, all records will be updated!

Practical example

To show how the UPDATE statement works, we will use the following table:

Note:

At the end of this article you can find database preparation SQL queries.

Example

In this example, we will update information about moderator Chris.

Query:

UPDATE [users] 
SET [name] = 'Christopher' , [role] = 'admin' 
WHERE [id] = 2;

Output:

Database preparation

create_tables.sql file:

CREATE TABLE [users] (
	[id] INT IDENTITY(1,1),
	[name] VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
	[role] VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL,
	PRIMARY KEY ([id])
);

insert_data.sql file:

INSERT INTO [users]
	([name], [role])
VALUES
	('John', 'admin'),
	('Chris', 'moderator'),
	('Kate', 'user'),
	('Denis', 'moderator');