Deleting data from SQL Server database tables

You use the DELETE statement to delete unwanted data from SQL Server database tables.

To execute the DELETE statement, the user must at least have the DELETE permission assigned on the target table.

The basic syntax for a DELETE statement is as follows:

[WITH <common_table_expression> [,...n]]
DELETE
[TOP (expression) [percent]]
[FROM] table_name | view_name | rowset_function
[WITH table_hint]
<outputclause>
[FROM table_source]
WHERE search_conditions

The following are the arguments of a DELETE statement:

  • WITH: This keyword specifies the CTE that you can reference in your DELETE statement
  • TOP: Specify this keyword to only delete a specific number or percent of rows from the top of the query
  • table_name | view_name ...

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