{"id":2212,"date":"2025-03-04T08:31:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T01:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/?page_id=2212"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T04:09:10","slug":"postgresql-drop-index","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-tutorial\/postgresql-drop-index\/","title":{"rendered":"PostgreSQL DROP INDEX Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you&#8217;ll learn how to delete an index using the PostgreSQL <code>DROP INDEX<\/code> statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='introduction-to-postgresql-drop-index-statement'>Introduction to PostgreSQL DROP INDEX statement <a href=\"#introduction-to-postgresql-drop-index-statement\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"introduction-to-postgresql-drop-index-statement\" title=\"Anchor for Introduction to PostgreSQL DROP INDEX statement\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <code>DROP INDEX<\/code> statement allows you to drop an existing index from a database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the basic syntax of the <code>DROP INDEX<\/code> statement:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-1\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DROP<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INDEX<\/span> &#91;<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CONCURRENTLY<\/span>] &#91;<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">IF<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">EXISTS<\/span>] index_name\n&#91;<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CASCADE<\/span> | <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">RESTRICT<\/span>]<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-1\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>In this syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First, specify the index name you want to remove after the <code>DROP INDEX<\/code> keywords.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Second, use the <code>CONCURRENTLY<\/code> option to delete an index without locking out concurrent selects, inserts, updates, and deletes on the table.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Third, use the <code>IF EXISTS<\/code> to delete the index only if it exists conditionally. You&#8217;ll encounter an error if you attempt to delete a non-existing index without the <code>IF EXISTS<\/code> option.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finally, use the <code>CASCADE<\/code> option to automatically drop the objects that depend on the index and, in turn, all objects that depend on those objects. The <code>RESTRICT<\/code> option rejects the index removal if the index has any dependent objects. The <code>RESTRICT<\/code> option is the default.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='postgresql-drop-index-statement-example'>PostgreSQL DROP INDEX statement example <a href=\"#postgresql-drop-index-statement-example\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"postgresql-drop-index-statement-example\" title=\"Anchor for PostgreSQL DROP INDEX statement example\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pgtutorial.com\/postgresql-tutorial\/postgresql-create-index\/\">create an index<\/a> on the <code>products<\/code> table:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-2\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">CREATE<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INDEX<\/span> products_safety_stock_idx\n<span class=\"hljs-keyword\">ON<\/span> products(safety_stock);<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-2\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<p>Second, drop the index with the name <code>products_safety_stock_idx<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\" aria-describedby=\"shcb-language-3\" data-shcb-language-name=\"PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL\" data-shcb-language-slug=\"pgsql\"><span><code class=\"hljs language-pgsql\"><span class=\"hljs-keyword\">DROP<\/span> <span class=\"hljs-keyword\">INDEX<\/span> products_safety_stock_idx;<\/code><\/span><small class=\"shcb-language\" id=\"shcb-language-3\"><span class=\"shcb-language__label\">Code language:<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__name\">PostgreSQL SQL dialect and PL\/pgSQL<\/span> <span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">(<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__slug\">pgsql<\/span><span class=\"shcb-language__paren\">)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='summary'>Summary <a href=\"#summary\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"summary\" title=\"Anchor for Summary\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use the <code>DROP INDEX<\/code> statement to remove an index from the database.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id='quiz'>Quiz <a href=\"#quiz\" class=\"anchor\" id=\"quiz\" title=\"Anchor for Quiz\">#<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\"\n  name=\"quiz\"\n  src=\"\/quiz\/?quiz=drop-index\"\n  height=\"700\"\n  width=\"600\"\n  class=\"iframe\"\n><\/iframe>\n\n<div class=\"helpful-block-content\" data-title=\"\">\n\t<header>\n\t\t<div class=\"wth-question\">Was this tutorial helpful ?<\/div>\n\t\t<div 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