DROPUSER(1)

💅 DROPUSER(1) — the "bye bestie" page 💅

okay so this is dropuser, from the PostgreSQL 13.23 documentation, and it's literally the manual page for yeeting a PostgreSQL user account out of existence. buckle up 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

dropuser — remove a PostgreSQL user account 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dropuser [connection-option...] [option...] [username]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

dropuser removes an existing PostgreSQL user. that's the whole vibe. 💀

but like — permission check, bestie: only superusers and users with the CREATEROLE privilege can remove PostgreSQL users. and if you wanna remove a superuser, you yourself gotta be a superuser. no cap, that's just how it is. 👑

dropuser is a wrapper around the SQL command DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7)). and ngl, there is no effective difference between dropping users via this utility and via other methods for accessing the server. same energy, different door. 🚪✨

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

dropuser accepts the following command-line arguments:

• username — specifies the name of the PostgreSQL user to be removed. if you don't give a name on the command line and you did use the -i/--interactive option, you'll get prompted for it. 🙈
• -e, --echo — echo the commands that dropuser generates and sends to the server. it's giving "show your work" energy. 📝
• -i, --interactive — prompt for confirmation before actually removing the user, and prompt for the user name if none is specified on the command line. the "are you SURE sure" option. 😭
• -V, --version — print the dropuser version and exit. slay, short and sweet.
• --if-exists — do not throw an error if the user does not exist. a notice is issued in this case. so chill. so unbothered. 🌈
• -?, --help — show help about dropuser command line arguments, and exit. the icon of just being helpful. 💅

dropuser also accepts the following command-line arguments for connection parameters:

• -h host, --host=host — specifies the host name of the machine on which the server is running. plot twist: if the value begins with a slash, it is used as the directory for the Unix domain socket. 🧚
• -p port, --port=port — specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file extension on which the server is listening for connections. pick your door. 🚪
• -U username, --username=username — user name to connect as (not the user name to drop). read that twice bestie, it's a trap. ⚠️
• -w, --no-password — never issue a password prompt. if the server requires password authentication and a password is not available by other means such as a .pgpass file, the connection attempt will fail. this option can be useful in batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a password. lowkey essential for automation. 🤖
• -W, --password — force dropuser to prompt for a password before connecting to a database.

this option is never essential, since dropuser will automatically prompt for a password if the server demands password authentication. however, dropuser will waste a connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password. in some cases it is worth typing -W to avoid the extra connection attempt. efficiency queen behavior. ⚡

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🍓 ENVIRONMENT 🍓

• PGHOST
• PGPORT
• PGUSER

→ default connection parameters ✨

• PG_COLOR — specifies whether to use color in diagnostic messages. possible values are always, auto and never. aesthetics matter!! 🎨

this utility, like most other PostgreSQL utilities, also uses the environment variables supported by libpq (see Section 33.14). iykyk. 📚

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💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

in case of difficulty, see DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7)) and psql(1) for discussions of potential problems and error messages. 🙏

the database server must be running at the targeted host. also, any default connection settings and environment variables used by the libpq front-end library will apply. so like, check those first before you spiral. 🫶

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🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

to remove user joe from the default database server:

$ dropuser joe

to remove user joe using the server on host eden, port 5000, with verification and a peek at the underlying command:

$ dropuser -p 5000 -h eden -i -e joe
Role "joe" will be permanently removed.
Are you sure? (y/n) y
DROP ROLE joe;

the confirmation prompt said what it said. 🫡

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

createuser(1), DROP ROLE (DROP_ROLE(7))

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anyway that's the whole page bestie, go forth and drop responsibly 💜✨

PostgreSQL 13.23 · 2025 · that's the version and date, mwah, bye 💋🎀