How to Rename a Column in Snowflake
Last updated July 24, 2026 · By the SaturnSQL team
Use ALTER TABLE ... RENAME COLUMN old_name TO new_name. It is a metadata-only change and completes instantly, but dependent views keep the old reference and must be recreated.
ALTER TABLE orders RENAME COLUMN amount TO order_amount;Check what references the column first
Views that select the old column fail on next use. Find them with GET_DDL or the OBJECT_DEPENDENCIES view before renaming.
SELECT * FROM snowflake.account_usage.object_dependencies
WHERE referenced_object_name = 'ORDERS';Run this in SaturnSQL
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