{"id":175680,"date":"2026-02-19T20:09:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/?p=175680"},"modified":"2026-02-19T20:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:09:41","slug":"sql-update-update-data-with-this-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/sql-update-update-data-with-this-command","title":{"rendered":"SQL UPDATE: Update data with this command"},"content":{"rendered":"

Because databases are constantly evolving, it’s essential to be familiar with the UPDATE SQL query. This allows you to modify one or more rows in your table. So how do you use it? We explain it all in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t

What is SQL UPDATE?<\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t

The SQL UPDATE<\/strong> command is used to update data within a table. It’s essential if you want to maintain a database with up-to-date, reliable information.<\/p>

As data quality is one of the biggest challenges facing data scientists, UPDATE is one of the most common SQL queries.<\/a><\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t

How do I use the UPDATE SQL command?<\/h2>
\"Woman<\/figure>\t\t\n\t\t

The syntax of the UPDATE SQL<\/strong> query is as follows:<\/p>

UPDATE table name
SET column name = ‘new value
WHERE condition<\/a><\/p>

To better understand it, let’s take a look at its main attributes:<\/p>

The SET clause: this defines what you’re going to replace existing data with. Here, only the columns to be modified need be specified. All other columns retain their current values.
The WHERE clause: this specifies where the changes are to be made.<\/p>

Beyond this simplified syntax, it’s also possible to use the UPDATE function with other SQL queries, such as SELECT, INSERT INTO,<\/a> GETDATE, INNER, JOIN and so on. This allows you to enrich your database and perform more complex manipulations.<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n

Learn how to use UPDATE SQL<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

5 examples of UPDATE queries<\/h2>\t\t\n\t\t\t

Modify a line<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t

In this example, we use the Customer table below.<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n First name<\/th>\n Last name<\/th>\n City<\/th>\n E-mail<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Justin<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n Paris<\/td>\n justinemartin@gmail.com<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Thomas<\/td>\n Durant<\/td>\n Bordeaux<\/td>\n tomtom@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Marie<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n Angers<\/td>\n marieleroy@laposte.net<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Vanessa<\/td>\n Savary<\/td>\n Marseille<\/td>\n vanessa13@gmail.com<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t

Here, you want to update Justine Martin’s email address. Here’s her new address: justinemartin@sfr.fr. To do this, simply enter the following query:<\/p>


UPDATE Customer<\/p>


SET Email = ‘justinemartin@sfr.fr’<\/p>


WHERE id = 1<\/p>

And here’s the result:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n First name<\/th>\n Last name<\/th>\n City<\/th>\n E-mail<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Justin<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n Paris<\/td>\n justinemartin@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Thomas<\/td>\n Durant<\/td>\n Bordeaux<\/td>\n tomtom@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Marie<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n Angers<\/td>\n marieleroy@laposte.net<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Vanessa<\/td>\n Savary<\/td>\n Marseille<\/td>\n vanessa13@gmail.com<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t\t

Modify multiple data<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t

If you wish to modify several pieces of information on the same line, simply separate the new values with a comma.<\/p>

In our example, you’d like to change Not only Justine Martin’s email address, but also her city. She now lives in Nantes.<\/p>

Here’s the query:<\/strong><\/p>

UPDATE Customer<\/p>

SET<\/p>

City = ‘Nantes’,<\/p>

Email = ‘justinemartin@sfr.fr’<\/p>

WHERE id = 1<\/p>

And the new table:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n First name<\/th>\n Last name<\/th>\n City<\/th>\n E-mail<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Justin<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n Nantes<\/td>\n justinemartin@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Thomas<\/td>\n Durant<\/td>\n Bordeaux<\/td>\n tomtom@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Marie<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n Angers<\/td>\n marieleroy@laposte.net<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Vanessa<\/td>\n Savary<\/td>\n Marseille<\/td>\n vanessa13@gmail.com<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
Learn about SQL language<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

Modify all lines<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t

If you want to modify all the rows in the table, simply omit the WHERE query. For example, if all customers are moving to Lyon, here’s the query to save:<\/p>

UPDATE Customer<\/p>

SET<\/p>

City = ‘Lyon<\/p>

And the new table:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n First name<\/th>\n Last name<\/th>\n City<\/th>\n E-mail<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Justin<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n Lyon<\/td>\n justinemartin@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Thomas<\/td>\n Durant<\/td>\n Lyon<\/td>\n tomtom@sfr.fr<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Marie<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n Lyon<\/td>\n marieleroy@laposte.net<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Vanessa<\/td>\n Savary<\/td>\n Lyon<\/td>\n vanessa13@gmail.com<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t\t

Modify data from another table<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t

For this example, we use two tables.<\/p>

The first, “Products”, lists the products sold by a company and the salesperson who made the sale:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n
Product<\/th>\n Price<\/th>\n Commercial ID<\/th>\n Salesperson name<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Battery<\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n NULL<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Telephone<\/td>\n 300<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n NULL<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
Computer<\/td>\n 800<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n NULL<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t

The second “Employee” lists a company’s employees.<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-baqh{text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n Price<\/th>\n Commercial ID<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Justin<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Thomas<\/td>\n Durant<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Marie<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n Vanessa<\/td>\n Savary<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\n Jean<\/td>\n Dupont<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t

The aim is to identify the name of the sales rep who made the sale, based on the sales rep’s ID. This name will then be integrated into the product table.<\/p>


To achieve this, here’s the query to record:<\/p>


UPDATE Product<\/p>


SET Salesperson name = (SELECT “name” from “Employee” WHERE salesperson ID = ID)<\/p>

And here is the result:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-03gf{background-color:#6665cd;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-baqh{text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n Product<\/th>\n Price<\/th>\n Commercial ID<\/th>\n Salesperson name<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Battery<\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n Dupont<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Telephone<\/td>\n 300<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n Martin<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Computer<\/td>\n 800<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n Leroy<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t\t

Update time with SQL UPDATE<\/h3>\t\t\n\t\t

You can also use the SQL query UPDATE with the GETDATE command to update the time and date.<\/p>

For example, with this “Product” table, you’d like to update the purchase date of the products below to today’s date (04\/25\/2023).<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n.tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n.tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n.tg .tg-03gf{background-color:#6665cd;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-baqh{text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n.tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n Product<\/th>\n Price<\/th>\n Purchase date<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Battery<\/td>\n 100<\/td>\n 01\/03\/2023<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Telephone<\/td>\n 300<\/td>\n 06\/03\/2022<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Computer<\/td>\n 800<\/td>\n 15\/04\/2023<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\t\t\n\t\t

To do this, enter the following query:<\/p>

UPDATE Product<\/p>

SET purchase date = GETDATE()<\/p>

The table is as follows:<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;}\n .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;\n font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;}\n .tg .tg-03gf{background-color:#6665cd;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n .tg .tg-baqh{text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n .tg .tg-c3ow{border-color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n .tg .tg-a0vq{background-color:#6665cd;border-color:inherit;color:#efefef;text-align:center;vertical-align:top}\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n <\/colgroup>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n
ID<\/th>\n Product<\/th>\n Price<\/th>\n Purchase Date<\/th>\n <\/tr>\n <\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\n Battery<\/td>\n $100<\/td>\n 25\/04\/2023<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n Phone<\/td>\n $300<\/td>\n 25\/04\/2023<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n Computer<\/td>\n $800<\/td>\n 25\/04\/2023<\/td>\n <\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\t\t

As you can see, the SQL UPDATE query can be used in a multitude of ways. A single blog post may not be enough to cover the wide range of possible uses. If you’d like to find out more, don’t hesitate to join one of our training courses at Liora.<\/p>

 <\/p>

?Related articles:<\/p><\/colgroup>
SQL DELETE: How do I use this query?<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
SQL Developer: What is it? What’s it for?<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
SQL Tutorial: Top 5 Most Useful Methods<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
SQL joins: everything you need to know about table associations<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
SQL vs NoSQL: differences, uses, advantages and disadvantages<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
NoSQL: All about non-relational databases<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\n\t\t\t

Expand your knowledge of SQL<\/h2>
\"Screen<\/figure>\t\t\n\t\t

While SQL is the indispensable basis for manipulating relational databases, mastering it requires training and many hours of practice. That’s why we offer a range of training courses at Liora. Each course is tailored to your specific needs, either in terms of business or tools.<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t\n

Discover Liora’s SQL curriculum<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Because databases are constantly evolving, it’s essential to be familiar with the UPDATE SQL query. This allows you to modify one or more rows in your table. So how do you use it? We explain it all in this article. What is SQL UPDATE? The SQL UPDATE command is used to update data within a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":207700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2433],"class_list":["post-175680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-data-ai"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175680"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207701,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175680\/revisions\/207701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liora.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}