---
title: "Deleting data | SurrealDB University"
description: "Deleting data. A chapter of SurrealDB Fundamentals, a hands-on course with runnable examples."
url: https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/deleting-data
---

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Course chapters

[SurrealDB Fundamentals](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals) [Welcome to SurrealDB University](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/intro/welcome) [Intro to SurrealDB](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/intro/surrealdb) [Why SurrealQL is SQL-like](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/intro/surrealql) [Part 1: Schemaless CRUD](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless) [Record IDs](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/record-ids) [Inserting data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/inserting-data) [Reading data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/reading-data) [Updating data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/updating-data) [Deleting data](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/deleting-data) [Part 2: Adding relationships](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships) [Graph relations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships/graph-relations) [Record links](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships/record-links) [Relational style joins](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships/relational-style) [Part 3: Making it schemafull](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemafull) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemafull) [Define tables, views and changefeeds](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemafull/define-table) [Define fields, constraints and assertions](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemafull/define-fields) [Schemafull CRUD](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemafull/schemafull-crud) [Part 4: Making it secure](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/security) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/security) [Authentication](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/security/authentication) [Query capabilities](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/security/query-capabilities) [Part 5: Making it performant](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/performance) [Introduction](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/performance) [Indexing & data model considerations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/performance/index-data-model) [Deployment & storage layer considerations](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/performance/deployment-storage) [Completion](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/completion) Certification Pending completion

# Deleting data

It's time! We've created, read and updated, all that is left now in part 1 is to `DELETE`.

We'll cover:

- How to delete fields inside records
- How to delete one record, a range of records, or the entire table

We'll start where we left off in our previous lesson on deleting fields.

## Deleting fields

```
-- Delete sub_category for one recordUPDATE product:01FSXKCPVR8G1TVYFT4JFJS5WBSET sub_category = NONE;-- Delete sub_category for the entire tableUPDATE product UNSET sub_category;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

SurrealQL does have a `REMOVE FIELD` statement, but that only works for schema definitions, as we'll explore in part 3.

For schemaless tables, we use the `UPDATE` statement to either:

- `SET` the field to NONE
- `UNSET` the field

`NONE` means something does not exist, whereas `NULL` means the field exists but it doesn't contain any data. Therefore we are using `NONE` to say that the field should not exist, or in other words, be deleted.

```
-- Delete sub_category for the entire tableUPDATE product MERGE {sub_category: NONE};UPDATE product PATCH [  {    op: "remove",    path: "sub_category"  }];
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

The reason we have this logic instead of only having `UNSET` is because `UNSET` doesn't work with the `CONTENT`, `MERGE` or `PATCH` clauses, where we need to use `NONE` or the remove operation for `PATCH`.

## Removing records

Now that we know how to delete fields, let's delete entire records.

```
-- Delete a single recordDELETE product:01FSXKCPVR8G1TVYFT4JFJS5WB RETURN BEFORE;-- Delete all the records of a tableDELETE person RETURN BEFORE;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

This is where we use the `DELETE` statement, which only deletes the data inside a table, but not the table itself, similar to `DELETE` and `TRUNCATE TABLE` in most SQL dialects.

In the statements above we added `RETURN BEFORE` because statements by default return the state *after* an operation has been performed, which in the case of `DELETE` is nothing. In this course it makes sense to show what has been deleted, so all of these statements have `RETURN BEFORE` at the end.

You can directly delete one record or the entire table. Just make sure that it is the right table. We wouldn't want to `DELETE` the `person` records if we wanted to `DELETE` the `product` records instead.

```
-- Delete a range of records with record IDs (recommended if possible)DELETE product:01FZ0CR6N09V5RG9RQ9A3264GX..=01G0MW4VTG8QZR3A4BTEXHXWS7 RETURN BEFORE;-- Delete a range of records with the where clauseDELETE productWHERE time.created_at >= d"2022-10-19T00:01:53Z"AND time.created_at <= d"2022-10-26T18:00:05Z"RETURN BEFORE;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

You can also `DELETE` a range of records, either by using record ranges or the `WHERE` clause.

Whenever you can, always use record IDs as that is the most efficient way.

## Deleting tables

```
REMOVE TABLE person;REMOVE TABLE product;
```

![Surrealist Icon](https://surrealdb.com/assets/static/fdfe2c20f5941d5e.D0guSOhZ.webp) Run Query

In order to delete the table itself, and any data it might have, we use the `REMOVE TABLE` statement, which is similar to `DROP TABLE` in most SQL dialects.

## Summary

In summary, to delete a field inside a record, use the `UPDATE` statement to either:

- `SET field_name = NONE`
- `UNSET field_name`

`REMOVE FIELD` only works for schemafull tables, as we'll see in part 3.

Use the `DELETE` statement to:

- `DELETE` one record, a range of records, or the entire table data
- `DELETE` the data inside a table, but not the table itself, similar to `TRUNCATE TABLE` in most SQL dialects

Use `REMOVE TABLE` to delete the table itself and its data, similar to `DROP TABLE` in most SQL dialects.

Previous

Updating data

[Previous](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/schemaless/updating-data)

Next lesson

Part 2: Adding relationships

[Next lesson](https://surrealdb.com/learn/fundamentals/relationships)

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