# SQL, how to delete data and tables

> Learn how to delete data from a SQL table with DELETE FROM and the WHERE clause, and how to remove an entire table using the DROP TABLE command.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2020-04-02 | Topics: [Database](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/database/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/sql-delete-data/

To remove data from a table, use the `DELETE FROM` command.

This deletes all rows:

```sql
DELETE FROM people;
```

You can use the `WHERE` clause to only remove specific rows:

```sql
DELETE FROM people WHERE name='Flavio';
```

To delete a table instead of the data inside the table, use the `DROP TABLE` command:

```sql
DROP TABLE people;
```