DROP_TABLE (7)

DROP TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

DROP TABLE removes tables from the database. Only the table owner, the schema owner, and superuser can drop a table. To empty a table of rows without destroying the table, use DELETE(7) or TRUNCATE(7).

DROP TABLE always removes any indexes, rules, triggers, and constraints that exist for the target table. However, to drop a table that is referenced by a view or a foreign-key constraint of another table, CASCADE must be specified. (CASCADE will remove a dependent view entirely, but in the foreign-key case it will only remove the foreign-key constraint, not the other table entirely.)

IF EXISTS

Do not throw an error if the table does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.

name

The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to drop.

CASCADE

Automatically drop objects that depend on the table (such as views).

RESTRICT

Refuse to drop the table if any objects depend on it. This is the default.

To destroy two tables, films and distributors:

DROP TABLE films, distributors;

This command conforms to the SQL standard, except that the standard only allows one table to be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a PostgreSQL extension.

ALTER TABLE (ALTER_TABLE(7)), CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7))