ALTER_LARGE_OBJECT(7pg18)

💖 ALTER LARGE OBJECT 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the PostgreSQL 18.6 docs, page 7, and today's main character is ALTER_LARGE_OBJECT — literally the glow-up button for a large object's definition. it's giving "new owner, who dis" 🦋

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

ALTER LARGE OBJECT large_object_oid OWNER TO { new_owner | CURRENT_ROLE | CURRENT_USER | SESSION_USER }

that's it, that's the whole vibe. one statement, one job, zero drama 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what does ALTER LARGE OBJECT actually do? it changes the definition of a large object. periodt.

now, the rules, and bestie you need to hear these:

• you must own the large object to use ALTER LARGE OBJECT. like, it has to be yours.
• and if you wanna hand it off to someone else, you also need to be able to SET ROLE to that new owning role. no sneaky transfers, okay?
• but — and this is the fun part — a superuser can alter any large object anyway. they just can. no cap. 👑

and here's the thing: currently the only functionality is to assign a new owner. that's the entire menu. so both of those restrictions always apply, every single time, no exceptions. it's not a sometimes-thing, it's an always-thing 😭

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🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

• large_object_oid — the OID of the large object you're altering. that's the one you're giving a whole new era to.
• new_owner — the new owner of the large object. the person getting the keys 🔑

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💀 COMPATIBILITY 💀

there is no ALTER LARGE OBJECT statement in the SQL standard. it's simply not a thing there. so if you're out here expecting standards compliance, this is not that, and that's fine, we move. 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• Chapter 33

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that's the whole page, bestie — go forth and reassign some large objects responsibly 🧚

PostgreSQL 18.6 · 2026 · stay slay, stay owned by the right role 💖✨