PostgreSQL 7.3.4 Documentation
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# TRUNCATE

## Name

TRUNCATE -- empty a table

## Synopsis

    TRUNCATE [ TABLE ] name

### Inputs

name

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

### Outputs

`TRUNCATE TABLE`

  Message returned if the table is successfully truncated.

## Description

`TRUNCATE` quickly removes all rows from a table. It has the same effect as an unqualified `DELETE` but since it does not actually scan the table it is faster. This is most useful on large tables.

`TRUNCATE` cannot be executed inside a transaction block (`BEGIN`/`COMMIT` pair), because there is no way to roll it back.

## Usage

Truncate the table bigtable:

    TRUNCATE TABLE bigtable;

## Compatibility

### SQL92

There is no `TRUNCATE` in SQL92.

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