How to Rename a Table in MySQL

Last updated July 24, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team

Use RENAME TABLE old TO new, which is atomic and can rename several tables at once. ALTER TABLE ... RENAME TO does the same for a single table.

RENAME TABLE orders TO customer_orders;

Swap two tables atomically

A common deploy trick: build a new table, then swap it in a single atomic statement.

RENAME TABLE orders TO orders_old, orders_new TO orders;

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