MySQL - UPDATE statement

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

Quick solution:

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

Warning:

If you omit or construct wrong way 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

Use below queries to prepare database and test UPDATE statement.

create_tables.sql file:

CREATE TABLE `users` (
	`id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
	`name` VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
	`role` VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL,
	PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
)
ENGINE=InnoDB;

insert_data.sql file:

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