How to Duplicate a Table in Redshift
Last updated July 25, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team
For a deep copy, CREATE TABLE new (LIKE old) preserves DISTKEY, SORTKEY, and encodings, then INSERT ... SELECT copies the rows. CREATE TABLE AS is shorter but does not inherit keys unless you declare them.
Deep copy that keeps keys and encodings
CREATE TABLE orders_backup (LIKE orders);
INSERT INTO orders_backup SELECT * FROM orders;Quick copy with CTAS
CREATE TABLE orders_copy
DISTKEY (customer_id)
SORTKEY (created_at)
AS SELECT * FROM orders;The deep-copy pattern is also the standard fix for a badly fragmented or wrongly keyed table: copy into a fresh table, drop the original, and rename the copy.
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