CREATE_TABLE_AS(7)

💖 CREATE TABLE AS 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the PostgreSQL 18.6 Documentation glow-up of CREATE TABLE AS, section 7 of the manual. this is the page you read when you want a whole new table made out of a query and you want it to slay. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

CREATE_TABLE_AS — define a new table from the results of a query. that's it, that's the whole vibe. make a table. fill it with query results. periodt. 💅

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

CREATE [ [ GLOBAL | LOCAL ] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } | UNLOGGED ] TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] table_name
    [ (column_name [, ...] ) ]
    [ USING method ]
    [ WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) | WITHOUT OIDS ]
    [ ON COMMIT { PRESERVE ROWS | DELETE ROWS | DROP } ]
    [ TABLESPACE tablespace_name ]
    AS query
    [ WITH [ NO ] DATA ]

look at all those optional brackets bestie. every single one of them is doing something. it's giving customizable ✨

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so CREATE TABLE AS creates a table and fills it with data computed by a SELECT command. no cap. the table columns get the names and data types that come with the output columns of the SELECT — except you can override the column names by handing over an explicit list of new column names. main character energy: you get to rename them if you want 🫶

now, CREATE TABLE AS bears some resemblance to creating a view, but lowkey it is really quite different: it creates a new table and evaluates the query just once to fill the new table initially. that new table will not track subsequent changes to the source tables of the query. meanwhile a view re-evaluates its defining SELECT statement every single time it's queried. so like… one is a snapshot, one is a live feed. iykyk 😭

CREATE TABLE AS requires CREATE privilege on the schema used for the table. don't forget that or the server will simply not let you in. 💀

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✨ PARAMETERS ✨

• GLOBAL or LOCAL — ignored for compatibility. using these keywords is deprecated, so maybe don't? refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for the details.
• TEMPORARY or TEMP — if specified, the table is created as a temporary table. refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details.
• UNLOGGED — if specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. refer to CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details.
• IF NOT EXISTS — do not throw an error if a relation with the same name already exists; just issue a notice and leave the table unmodified. so chill. so unbothered. 🌸
• table_name — the name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
• column_name — the name of a column in the new table. if column names are not provided, they're taken from the output column names of the query.
• USING method — this optional clause specifies the table access method used to store the contents for the new table; the method needs to be an access method of type TABLE. see Chapter 62 for more information. if this option isn't specified, the default table access method is chosen for the new table. see default_table_access_method for more information.
• WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) — this clause specifies optional storage parameters for the new table; see Storage Parameters in the CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) documentation for more information. for backward-compatibility, the WITH clause for a table can also include OIDS=FALSE to specify that rows of the new table should contain no OIDs (object identifiers). heads up: OIDS=TRUE is not supported anymore. ⚠️
• WITHOUT OIDS — this is backward-compatible syntax for declaring a table WITHOUT OIDS. creating a table WITH OIDS is not supported anymore.
• ON COMMIT — the behavior of temporary tables at the end of a transaction block can be controlled using ON COMMIT. the three options are:
  • PRESERVE ROWS — no special action is taken at the ends of transactions. this is the default behavior. 👑
  • DELETE ROWS — all rows in the temporary table will be deleted at the end of each transaction block. essentially, an automatic TRUNCATE is done at each commit. bye rows 💀
  • DROP — the temporary table will be dropped at the end of the current transaction block. gone. vanished. not me being dramatic, that's just what it does.
• TABLESPACE tablespace_name — the tablespace_name is the name of the tablespace in which the new table is to be created. if not specified, default_tablespace is consulted, or temp_tablespaces if the table is temporary.
• query — a SELECT, TABLE, or VALUES command, or an EXECUTE command that runs a prepared SELECT, TABLE, or VALUES query.
• WITH [ NO ] DATA — this clause specifies whether or not the data produced by the query should be copied into the new table. if not, only the table structure is copied. the default is to copy the data. structure only = the skeleton fit 🦋

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💜 NOTES 💜

this command is functionally similar to SELECT INTO (SELECT_INTO(7)), but it is preferred since it's less likely to be confused with other uses of the SELECT INTO syntax. plus, CREATE TABLE AS offers a superset of the functionality offered by SELECT INTO. so like, it's the upgrade, bestie. ✨

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

create a new table films_recent consisting of only recent entries from the table films:

CREATE TABLE films_recent AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2002-01-01';

to copy a table completely, the short form using the TABLE command can also be used:

CREATE TABLE films2 AS
  TABLE films;

create a new temporary table films_recent, consisting of only recent entries from the table films, using a prepared statement. the new table will be dropped at commit:

PREPARE recentfilms(date) AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod > $1;
CREATE TEMP TABLE films_recent ON COMMIT DROP AS
  EXECUTE recentfilms('2002-01-01');

see how that last one uses ON COMMIT DROP? yeah. it said "i'm not staying." 🫶

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🎀 COMPATIBILITY 🎀

CREATE TABLE AS conforms to the SQL standard. the following are nonstandard extensions:

• the standard requires parentheses around the subquery clause; in PostgreSQL, these parentheses are optional. (bestie we are so lenient 💅)
• in the standard, the WITH [ NO ] DATA clause is required; in PostgreSQL it is optional.
• PostgreSQL handles temporary tables in a way rather different from the standard; see CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)) for details.
• the WITH clause is a PostgreSQL extension; storage parameters are not in the standard.
• the PostgreSQL concept of tablespaces is not part of the standard. hence, the clause TABLESPACE is an extension.

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🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW (CREATE_MATERIALIZED_VIEW(7)), CREATE TABLE (CREATE_TABLE(7)), EXECUTE(7), SELECT(7), SELECT INTO (SELECT_INTO(7)), VALUES(7)

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and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it 💖 this was PostgreSQL 18.6, dated 2026 — go make some tables 🦋✨👑