---
title: 'PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS() Function'
page_title: 'PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS'
page_description: 'How to use the PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS() function to concatenate strings into a single string, separated by a specified delimiter.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-string-functions/postgresql-concat_ws/'
ogImage: '/postgresqltutorial/customer.png'
updatedOn: '2024-01-28T13:17:37+00:00'
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  title: 'PostgreSQL CONCAT() Function'
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  title: 'PostgreSQL TRANSLATE() Function'
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---

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL `CONCAT_WS()` function to concatenate strings into a single string, separated by a specified separator.

## Introduction to PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS() function

The PostgreSQL `CONCAT_WS()` function allows you to concatenate multiple strings into a single string separated by a specified separator.

Here’s the basic syntax of the `CONCAT_WS` function:

```sql
CONCAT_WS(separator, string1, string2, string3, ...)
```

In this syntax:

- `separator`: Specify the separator that you want to separate the strings. The `separator` should not be `NULL`.
- `string1`, `string2`, `string3`, ..: These are strings that you want to concatenate. If any string is NULL, it is ignored by the function.

The `CONCAT_WS` returns a single string that combines the `string1`, `string2`, `string3`… separated by the separator.

If the separator is `NULL`, the `CONCAT_WS` will return `NULL`.

In practice, you typically use the `CONCAT_WS` function to combine values from different columns with a custom separator.

## PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS() function examples

Let’s take some examples of using the `CONCAT_WS()` function.

### 1\) Basic PostgreSQL CONCAT_WS() function example

The following example uses the `CONCAT_WS()` function to concatenate two strings with a space:

```sql
SELECT CONCAT_WS(' ', 'PostgreSQL', 'Tutorial') title;
```

Output:

```text
        title
---------------------
 PostgreSQL Tutorial
(1 row)
```

In this example, we use the `CONCAT_WS()` function to concatenate the strings `'PostgreSQL'` and `'Tutorial'` with a space separator. The result string is `'PostgreSQL Tutorial'`.

### 2\) Using the CONCAT_WS() function with the table data

We’ll use the `customer` table from the [sample database](../postgresql-getting-started/postgresql-sample-database):

![customer table](/postgresqltutorial/customer.png)The following example uses the `CONCAT_WS()` to concatenate values from the `first_name` and `last_name` columns of the `customer` table using a space as a separator:

```sql
SELECT
  CONCAT_WS(' ', first_name, last_name) full_name
FROM
  customer
ORDER BY
  first_name;
```

Output:

```text
       full_name
-----------------------
 Aaron Selby
 Adam Gooch
 Adrian Clary
 Agnes Bishop
...
```

The query returns a result set with a single column `full_name` containing the full names of all customers.

## Summary

- Use the `CONCAT_WS` function to concatenate multiple strings into a single string separated by a specified separator.
- The `CONCAT_WS` function skips `NULL` values.