How to Eliminate Duplicate Rows in SQL Database: Standard SQL PostgreSQL MS SQL Server Oracle MySQL SQLite Operators: DISTINCT Table of Contents Problem: Example: Solution: Discussion: Problem: You’d like to eliminate any duplicate rows from the result set of a query so that each row appears only once. Example: Our database has a table named clothes with data in the following columns: id, name, color, and year_produced. idnamecoloryear_produced 1T-shirtyellow2015 2jacketblue2016 3jeansblack2015 4jacketblue2015 5jacketgreen2016 6jacketyellow2017 7hatyellow2017 Let’s get the non-repeated names and colors of clothes produced before 2017. Solution: SELECT DISTINCT name, color FROM clothes WHERE year_produced < 2017; Here’s the result: namecolor T-shirtyellow jacketblue jeansblack jacketgreen Notice that the blue appears only once in this result set, even though it appears twice in the original table. This is because we specified that we want to select only those rows for which the name-color combination is unique. Discussion: Simply use the DISTINCT keyword after SELECT if you want to select only non-repeated rows. This keyword forces the query to discard any duplicate rows, based only on the columns you listed. Here’s an example of selecting only the rows for which the name of the item is unique: SELECT DISTINCT name FROM clothes; Unlike the previous query, this one returns only three records: name T-shirt jacket jeans While there are four jeans in the original table (two blue, one green, and one yellow), the item appears only once in this result set thanks to the DISTINCT keyword. Recommended courses: SQL Basics SQL Practice Set Recommended articles: SQL Basics Cheat Sheet What Is the Role of DISTINCT in SQL? What is the Difference Between COUNT(*), COUNT(1), COUNT(column), and COUNT(DISTINCT)? What’s the Difference Between UNIQUE and DISTINCT in SQL? See also: How to Count Distinct Values in SQL How to Use DISTINCT in SQL How to Find Duplicate Rows in SQL? How to not Show Duplicates in SQL Subscribe to our newsletter Join our monthly newsletter to be notified about the latest posts. Email address How Do You Write a SELECT Statement in SQL? What Is a Foreign Key in SQL? Enumerate and Explain All the Basic Elements of an SQL Query