⌘K ctrl+k
Search Shortcut cmd + k | ctrl + k
ALTER DATABASE Statement

Warning The ALTER DATABASE statement is not supported in DuckDB 2.0.0: ALTER DATABASE old_name RENAME TO new_name fails with Parser Error: syntax error at or near "RENAME". To rename an attached database, DETACH it and ATTACH it again with a different alias.

Syntax

RENAME DATABASE

The following scenarios are not supported when renaming a DuckDB database with ALTER DATABASE:

  • Renaming a database to certain reserved keywords such as system or temp.
  • Renaming a database to the same name of a database attached in memory.

Rename a database from old_name to new_name:

ALTER DATABASE old_name RENAME TO new_name;

Check if a database exists and rename it:

ALTER DATABASE IF EXISTS non_existent RENAME TO something_else;
© 2026 DuckDB Foundation, Amsterdam NL
DuckDB Home Code of Conduct Trademark Use Blog