How to delete duplicates on a MySQL table?

Question

I need to DELETE duplicated rows for specified sid on a MySQL table.

How can I do this with an SQL query?

Answer 1

Deleting duplicates on MySQL tables is a common issue, that usually comes with specific needs. In case anyone is interested, here (Remove duplicate rows in MySQL) I explain how to use a temporary table to delete MySQL duplicates in a reliable and fast way, also valid to handle big data sources (with examples for different use cases).

Ali, in your case, you can run something like this:

-- create a new temporary table
CREATE TABLE tmp_table1 LIKE table1;

-- add a unique constraint    
ALTER TABLE tmp_table1 ADD UNIQUE(sid, title);

-- scan over the table to insert entries
INSERT IGNORE INTO tmp_table1 SELECT * FROM table1 ORDER BY sid;

-- rename tables
RENAME TABLE table1 TO backup_table1, tmp_table1 TO table1;