Deleting duplicate rows with sql

Question

I am trying to delete duplicate rows from my mysql table. I\'ve tried multiple queries but I am keep on getting this error: #1093 - You can\'t specify target table \'usa_cit

Answer 1

Try to select the duplicates first, the delete them

DELETE FROM usa_city WHERE city_id IN
(
SELECT city_id FROM usa_city
GROUP BY city_name, id_state
HAVING count(city_id) > 1
)

Hope it helps!!!

MODIFIED: Based on the comment, if you want to keep one record, you can make a join and keep the lowest value

DELETE c1 FROM usa_city c1, usa_city c2 WHERE c1.id < c2.id AND 
(c1.city_name= c2.city_name AND c1.id_state = c2.id_state)

Be sure to make a backup before executing the query above...