MySQL Distinct Clause

The MySQL DISTINCT clause is used to eliminate duplicate records from the table and retrieve only unique records. The MySQL DISTINCT clause is used with the SELECT statement only.

MySQL DISTINCT CLAUSE Syntax

To retrieve only unique records from existing table, use the following syntax:

SELECT DISTINCT col1,col2,col3... FROM tablename

Parameters:

tablename: The table name from which you want to remove all records.

DISTINCT: To eliminate duplicate records.

Note:

If DISTINCT clause is used with single field, the query will return the unique values for that field only.

If DISTINCT clause is used with multiple fields, the query will retrieve unique combinations for the expressions listed.

MySQL DISTINCT CLAUSE example with single field

SELECT DISTINCT address FROM tblCustomerLoan;

Note:

In the above example, we have fetched unique "address" from "tblCustomerLoan"

You can use MySQL Command Line Client to fetched unique records from "tblCustomerLoan" table. It will look like this:

Show DISTINCT CLAUSE Example with multiple fields

SELECT DISTINCT address, cellNo, aadharNo FROM tblCustomerLoan; 

You can use MySQL Command Line Client to retrieve unique records for multiple fields in table. It will look like this:

Show DISTINCT CLAUSE Example with NULL value

SELECT DISTINCT firstName FROM tblCustomerLoan; 

You can use MySQL Command Line Client to retrieve unique records for NULL values in table. It will look like this: