Difference Between Truncate Table and Delete Table Command in SQL Server

Question

Hi What is the Difference Between Truncate Table and Delete Table Command in SQL Server ?

Satyapriya Nayak · Answer

Hi Arun Delete command removes the rows from a table based on the condition that we provide with a WHERE clause. Truncate will actually remove all the rows from a table and there will be no data in the tableafter we run the truncate command. TRUNCATE TRUNCATE is faster and uses fewer system and transaction log resources than DELETE. TRUNCATE removes the data by deallocating the data pages used to store the table's data and only the page deallocations are recorded in the transaction log. TRUNCATE removes all rows from a table but the table structure and its columns constraints indexes and so on remain. The counter used by an identity for new rows is reset to the seed for the column.You cannot use TRUNCATE TABLE on a table referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint. Because TRUNCATE TABLE is not logged it cannot activate a trigger. TRUNCATE can not be Rolled back. TRUNCATE is DDL Command. TRUNCATE Resets identity of the table. DELETE DELETE removes rows one at a time and records an entry in the transaction log for each deleted row. If you want to retain the identity counter use DELETE instead. If you want to remove table definition and its data use the DROP TABLE statement. DELETE Can be used with or without a WHERE clause DELETE Activates Triggers. DELETE Can be Rolled back. DELETE is DML Command. DELETE does not reset identity of the table. Thanks

Santhosh Kumar Jayaraman · Answer

Delete is soft delete i.e. we can retrieve those records Truncate will be hard delete i.e. once we delete those records its impossible to get it back.