DROP VIEW (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW) SQL analytics endpoint in Microsoft Fabric Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric

Removes one or more views from the current database. DROP VIEW can be executed against indexed views.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

-- Syntax for SQL Server and Azure SQL Database
  
DROP VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] [ schema_name . ] view_name [ ...,n ] [ ; ]  

-- Syntax for Azure Synapse Analytics and Microsoft Fabric
  
DROP VIEW [ IF EXISTS ] [ schema_name . ] view_name [ ; ]  

-- Syntax for Parallel Data Warehouse  
  
DROP VIEW [ schema_name . ] view_name [ ; ]  

Arguments

IF EXISTS
Applies to: SQL Server ( SQL Server 2016 (13.x) through current version, SQL Database).

Conditionally drops the view only if it already exists.

schema_name
Is the name of the schema to which the view belongs.

view_name
Is the name of the view to remove.

Remarks

When you drop a view, the definition of the view and other information about the view is deleted from the system catalog. All permissions for the view are also deleted.

Any view on a table that is dropped by using DROP TABLE must be dropped explicitly by using DROP VIEW.

When executed against an indexed view, DROP VIEW automatically drops all indexes on a view. To display all indexes on a view, use sp_helpindex.

When querying through a view, the Database Engine checks to make sure that all the database objects referenced in the statement exist and that they are valid in the context of the statement, and that data modification statements do not violate any data integrity rules. A check that fails returns an error message. A successful check translates the action into an action against the underlying table or tables. If the underlying tables or views have changed since the view was originally created, it may be useful to drop and re-create the view.

For more information about determining dependencies for a specific view, see sys.sql_dependencies (Transact-SQL).

For more information about viewing the text of the view, see sp_helptext (Transact-SQL).

Permissions

Requires CONTROL permission on the view, ALTER permission on the schema containing the view, or membership in the db_ddladmin fixed server role.

Examples

A. Drop a view

The following example removes the view Reorder.

DROP VIEW IF EXISTS dbo.Reorder ;  
GO  

See Also

ALTER VIEW (Transact-SQL)
CREATE VIEW (Transact-SQL)
EVENTDATA (Transact-SQL)
sys.columns (Transact-SQL)
sys.objects (Transact-SQL)
USE (Transact-SQL)
sys.sql_expression_dependencies (Transact-SQL)