ALTER_SEQUENCE(7pg16)

💅 ALTER SEQUENCE — change the definition of a sequence generator ✨

okay so you already made a sequence and now you're like "hmm, actually I want it different"?? bestie, this is the page for you. it's ALTER SEQUENCE from the PostgreSQL 16.15 docs and it's giving main character energy for your sequence generators 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name
    [ AS data_type ]
    [ INCREMENT [ BY ] increment ]
    [ MINVALUE minvalue | NO MINVALUE ] [ MAXVALUE maxvalue | NO MAXVALUE ]
    [ START [ WITH ] start ]
    [ RESTART [ [ WITH ] restart ] ]
    [ CACHE cache ] [ [ NO ] CYCLE ]
    [ OWNED BY { table_name.column_name | NONE } ]
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name SET { LOGGED | UNLOGGED }
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name RENAME TO new_name
ALTER SEQUENCE [ IF EXISTS ] name SET SCHEMA new_schema

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ALTER SEQUENCE changes the parameters of an existing sequence generator. literally that's it. any parameters you don't specifically set in the command just keep their prior settings — no surprises, she's lowkey respectful like that 🫶

you must own the sequence to use ALTER SEQUENCE. and if you wanna change a sequence's schema, you also need CREATE privilege on the new schema. to alter the owner, you gotta be able to SET ROLE to the new owning role, and that role needs CREATE privilege on the sequence's schema. (these restrictions are there to enforce that altering the owner doesn't let you do anything you couldn't do by dropping and recreating the sequence. however — a superuser can alter ownership of any sequence anyway 👑)

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🦋 PARAMETERS 🦋

• name — the name (optionally schema-qualified) of the sequence you're altering 💖
• IF EXISTS — do not throw an error if the sequence doesn't exist. a notice gets issued in this case instead. chill vibes.
• data_type — the optional clause AS data_type changes the data type of the sequence. valid types are smallint, integer, and bigint.

changing the data type automatically changes the min and max values of the sequence if and only if the previous min and max values were the minimum or maximum value of the old data type (in other words, if the sequence had been created using NO MINVALUE or NO MAXVALUE, implicitly or explicitly). otherwise, min and max values are preserved, unless new values are given as part of the same command. and if the min and max values don't fit into the new data type? error. no cap 😭

• increment — the clause INCREMENT BY increment is optional. positive value = ascending sequence, negative = descending. if unspecified, the old increment value stays.
• minvalue / NO MINVALUE — the optional clause MINVALUE minvalue determines the minimum value a sequence can generate. if NO MINVALUE is specified, the defaults of 1 and the minimum value of the data type for ascending and descending sequences, respectively, get used. if neither option is specified, the current minimum value is maintained ✨
• maxvalue / NO MAXVALUE — the optional clause MAXVALUE maxvalue determines the maximum value for the sequence. if NO MAXVALUE is specified, the defaults of the maximum value of the data type and -1 for ascending and descending sequences, respectively, are used. if neither option is specified, the current maximum value is maintained.
• start — the optional clause START WITH start changes the recorded start value of the sequence. this has no effect on the current sequence value — it just sets the value that future ALTER SEQUENCE RESTART commands will use 👀
• restart — the optional clause RESTART [ WITH restart ] changes the current value of the sequence. this is similar to calling the setval function with is_called = false: the specified value will be returned by the next call of nextval. writing RESTART with no restart value is equivalent to supplying the start value that was recorded by CREATE SEQUENCE or last set by ALTER SEQUENCE START WITH.

okay important contrast here bestie: unlike a setval call, a RESTART operation on a sequence is transactional and blocks concurrent transactions from obtaining numbers from the same sequence. if that's not the mode of operation you want, you should use setval instead 🔥

• cache — the clause CACHE cache enables sequence numbers to be preallocated and stored in memory for faster access. minimum value is 1 (only one value can be generated at a time, i.e., no cache). if unspecified, the old cache value is maintained 💅
• CYCLE — the optional CYCLE key word enables the sequence to wrap around when the maxvalue or minvalue has been reached by an ascending or descending sequence respectively. if the limit is reached, the next number generated will be the minvalue or maxvalue, respectively. it's giving carousel 🎠
• NO CYCLE — if the optional NO CYCLE key word is specified, any calls to nextval after the sequence has reached its maximum value will return an error. if neither CYCLE nor NO CYCLE are specified, the old cycle behavior is maintained.
• SET { LOGGED | UNLOGGED } — this form changes the sequence from unlogged to logged or vice-versa (see CREATE SEQUENCE (CREATE_SEQUENCE(7))). it cannot be applied to a temporary sequence 🙈
• OWNED BY table_name.column_name / OWNED BY NONE — the OWNED BY option causes the sequence to be associated with a specific table column, such that if that column (or its whole table) is dropped, the sequence will be automatically dropped as well. if specified, this association replaces any previously specified association for the sequence. the specified table must have the same owner and be in the same schema as the sequence. specifying OWNED BY NONE removes any existing association, making the sequence "free-standing" 🦋
• new_owner — the user name of the new owner of the sequence.
• new_name — the new name for the sequence.
• new_schema — the new schema for the sequence.

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💀 NOTES 💀

ALTER SEQUENCE will not immediately affect nextval results in backends, other than the current one, that have preallocated (cached) sequence values. they will use up all cached values prior to noticing the changed sequence generation parameters. the current backend will be affected immediately though ⭐

ALTER SEQUENCE does not affect the currval status for the sequence. (before PostgreSQL 8.3, it sometimes did. ancient history fr fr.)

ALTER SEQUENCE blocks concurrent nextval, currval, lastval, and setval calls 🚧

for historical reasons, ALTER TABLE can be used with sequences too — but the only variants of ALTER TABLE that are allowed with sequences are equivalent to the forms shown above. iykyk.

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

restart a sequence called serial, at 105:

ALTER SEQUENCE serial RESTART WITH 105;

ate. no crumbs. 💅

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🌈 COMPATIBILITY 🌈

ALTER SEQUENCE conforms to the SQL standard — except for the AS, START WITH, OWNED BY, OWNER TO, RENAME TO, and SET SCHEMA clauses, which are PostgreSQL extensions 😌

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

CREATE SEQUENCE (CREATE_SEQUENCE(7)), DROP SEQUENCE (DROP_SEQUENCE(7))

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okay that's the whole page bestie, go alter some sequences and slay 💖✨🎀

PostgreSQL 16.15 · 2026 · ALTER SEQUENCE(7) — mwah, xoxo, docs girl signing off 🫶🌸