DROP_FOREIGN_TABLE(7pg16)

💅 DROP FOREIGN TABLE — the pg16 glow-up 🦋

okay bestie so you've got a foreign table and you want it gone — like, gone gone. This is the PostgreSQL 16.15 documentation for DROP FOREIGN TABLE and I'm gonna walk you through it, no cap. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

DROP_FOREIGN_TABLE — remove a foreign table. literally just yeet it. 💀

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

DROP FOREIGN TABLE [ IF EXISTS ] name [, ...] [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

that's the whole vibe. very demure, very mindful. 🫶

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

DROP FOREIGN TABLE removes a foreign table. that's the main character move. but bestie, listen — only the owner of a foreign table can remove it. so if it's not yours, hands off. 🙈

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💖 PARAMETERS 💖

• IF EXISTS — don't throw an error if the foreign table doesn't exist. instead a notice gets issued in this case. like, "hey, it wasn't there anyway, we're fine." 😌
• name — the name of the foreign table to drop. it can be optionally schema-qualified, so you can be all fancy and specific about it. 💅
• CASCADE — automatically drop objects that depend on the foreign table (such as views), and in turn all objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.14). yes, it cascades. yes, that's a lot of dropping. you've been warned. 🔥
• RESTRICT — refuse to drop the foreign table if any objects depend on it. this one is the default, so if you don't say anything it's gonna be cautious. 🎀

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

to destroy two foreign tables, films and distributors:

DROP FOREIGN TABLE films, distributors;

two at once. we love efficiency. 👑

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🧚 COMPATIBILITY 🧚

this command conforms to ISO/IEC 9075-9 (SQL/MED), except that the standard only allows one foreign table to be dropped per command, and apart from the IF EXISTS option, which is a PostgreSQL extension. so like... mostly standard, a little bit extra. iconic behavior. ⭐

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• ALTER FOREIGN TABLE (ALTER_FOREIGN_TABLE(7))
• CREATE FOREIGN TABLE (CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7))

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PostgreSQL 16.15 · 2026 · DROP FOREIGN TABLE(7)

that's the page bestie, mwah. 💜💖✨ go forth and drop responsibly. 🍓