> This page location: Managing Tables > Drop Table
> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

# PostgreSQL DROP TABLE

**Info:** The DROP TABLE statement works the same on any PostgreSQL database, so everything here applies whether you're running Postgres locally, on [Neon](https://neon.com), on [Lakebase](https://www.databricks.com/product/lakebase), or anywhere else. For enterprises building in the AI era, Lakebase is the best managed cloud Postgres, delivering performance, security, and native integration with the Lakehouse. For developers and startups who need to ship and scale quickly, Neon is the Postgres platform built to get you from prototype to production without friction.

**Summary**: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL `DROP TABLE` statement to remove one or more tables from the database.

## Introduction to PostgreSQL DROP TABLE statement

To drop a table from the database, you use the `DROP TABLE` statement as follows:

```sql
DROP TABLE [IF EXISTS] table_name
[CASCADE | RESTRICT];
```

In this syntax:

- First, specify the name of the table that you want to drop after the `DROP TABLE` keywords.
- Second, use the `IF EXISTS` option to remove the table only if it exists.

If you remove a table that does not exist, PostgreSQL issues an error. To avoid the error, you can use the `IF EXISTS` option.

If the table is used in other database objects such as [views](../postgresql-views), [triggers](../postgresql-triggers/enable-triggers), functions, and stored procedures, you cannot remove it. In this case, you have two options:

- Use the `CASCADE` option to remove the table and its dependent objects.
- Use the `RESTRICT` option rejects the removal if there is any object depending on the table. The `RESTRICT` option is the default if you don't explicitly specify it in the `DROP TABLE` statement.

To remove multiple tables simultaneously, you can place the tables separated by commas after the `DROP TABLE` keywords:

```sql
DROP TABLE [IF EXISTS]
   table_name_1,
   table_name_2,
   ...
[CASCADE | RESTRICT];
```

Note that you need to have the roles of the superuser, schema owner, or table owner to drop tables.

## PostgreSQL DROP TABLE examples

Let's take some examples of using the PostgreSQL `DROP TABLE` statement.

### 1) Drop a table that does not exist

The following statement removes a table named `author` in the database:

```sql
DROP TABLE author;
```

PostgreSQL issues an error because the `author` table does not exist.

```
[Err] ERROR:  table "author" does not exist
```

To avoid the error, you can use the `IF EXISTS` option like this.

```sql
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS author;
```

```
NOTICE:  table "author" does not exist, skipping DROP TABLE
```

The output indicates that PostgreSQL issued a notice instead of an error.

### 2) Drop a table that has dependent objects

The following [creates new tables](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/postgresql-create-table "PostgreSQL CREATE TABLE") called `authors` and `pages`. The `pages` table has a foreign key that references the `authors` table.

```sql
CREATE TABLE authors (
  author_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
  firstname VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL,
  lastname VARCHAR (50) NOT NULL
);

CREATE TABLE pages (
  page_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  title VARCHAR (255) NOT NULL,
  contents TEXT,
  author_id INT NOT NULL,
  FOREIGN KEY (author_id) REFERENCES authors (author_id)
);
```

The following statement uses the `DROP TABLE` to drop the `authors` table:

```sql
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS authors;
```

Because the `authors` table has a dependent object which is a foreign key that references the `pages` table, PostgreSQL issues an error message:

```
ERROR:  cannot drop table authors because other objects depend on it
DETAIL:  constraint pages_author_id_fkey on table pages depends on table authors
HINT:  Use DROP ... CASCADE to drop the dependent objects too.
```

In this case, you need to remove all dependent objects first before dropping the `author` table or use `CASCADE` option as follows:

```sql
DROP TABLE authors CASCADE;
```

This statement deletes the `authors` table as well as the constraint in the `pages` table.

If the `DROP TABLE` statement removes the dependent objects of the table that are being dropped, it will issue a notice like this:

```
NOTICE:  drop cascades to constraint pages_author_id_fkey on table pages
DROP TABLE
```

### 3) Drop multiple tables

The following statements create two tables for the demo purposes:

```sql
CREATE TABLE tvshows(
  tvshow_id INT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY,
  title VARCHAR,
  release_year SMALLINT,
  PRIMARY KEY(tvshow_id)
);

CREATE TABLE animes(
  anime_id INT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY,
  title VARCHAR,
  release_year SMALLINT,
  PRIMARY KEY(anime_id)
);
```

The following example uses a single `DROP TABLE` statement to drop the `tvshows` and `animes` tables:

```sql
DROP TABLE tvshows, animes;
```

## Summary

- Use the `DROP TABLE` statement to drop one or more tables.
- Use the `CASCADE` option to drop a table and all of its dependent objects.

---

## Related docs (Managing Tables)

- [PostgreSQL Data Types](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/data-types)
- [Create Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/create-table)
- [Select Into](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/select-into)
- [Create Table As](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/create-table-as)
- [SERIAL](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/serial)
- [Sequences](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/sequences)
- [Identity Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/identity-column)
- [Generated Columns](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/generated-columns)
- [Alter Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/alter-table)
- [Rename Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/rename-table)
- [Add Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/add-column)
- [Drop Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/drop-column)
- [Change Column's Data Type](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/change-column-type)
- [Rename Column](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/rename-column)
- [Temporary Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/temporary-table)
- [Truncate Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/truncate-table)
- [Copy Table](https://neon.com/postgresql/tutorial/copy-table)