How to Describe a Table in MySQL
Last updated July 25, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team
DESCRIBE table (or DESC) lists columns with types, nullability, keys, and defaults; it is shorthand for SHOW COLUMNS FROM. Use SHOW CREATE TABLE when you need the full DDL including indexes and foreign keys.
DESCRIBE orders;
SHOW COLUMNS FROM orders LIKE '%_at';Full definition
SHOW CREATE TABLE orders;To query column metadata programmatically (e.g. all columns of a given type), use information_schema.columns instead of parsing DESCRIBE output.
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