Check if table exists in SQL Server

I would like this to be the ultimate discussion on how to check if a table exists in SQL Server 2000/2005 using SQL Statements.

When you Google for the answer, you get so many different answers. Is there an official/backward and forward compatible way of doing it?

Here are two possible ways of doing it. Which one among the two is the standard/best way of doing it?

First way:

IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 
           FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
           WHERE TABLE_TYPE='BASE TABLE' 
           AND TABLE_NAME='mytablename') 
   SELECT 1 AS res ELSE SELECT 0 AS res;

Second way:

IF OBJECT_ID (N'mytablename', N'U') IS NOT NULL 
   SELECT 1 AS res ELSE SELECT 0 AS res;

MySQL provides the simple

SHOW TABLES LIKE '%tablename%'; 

statement. I am looking for something similar.

For queries like this it is always best to use an INFORMATION_SCHEMA view. These views are (mostly) standard across many different databases and rarely change from version to version.

To check if a table exists use:

IF (EXISTS (SELECT * 
                 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
                 WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'TheSchema' 
                 AND  TABLE_NAME = 'TheTable'))
BEGIN
	--Do Stuff
END

Also note that if for any reason you need to check for a temporary table you can do this:

if OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#test') is not null
 --- temp table exists

We always use the OBJECT_ID style for as long as I remember

IF OBJECT_ID('*objectName*', 'U') IS NOT NULL 

Please see the below approaches,

Approach 1: Using INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES view

We can write a query like below to check if a Customers Table exists in the current database.

IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME = N'Customers')
BEGIN
    PRINT 'Table Exists'
END

Approach 2: Using OBJECT_ID() function

We can use OBJECT_ID() function like below to check if a Customers Table exists in the current database.

IF OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Customers', N'U') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
    PRINT 'Table Exists'
END

Approach 3: Using sys.Objects Catalog View

We can use the Sys.Objects catalog view to check the existence of the Table as shown below:

IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM sys.Objects WHERE  Object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Customers') AND Type = N'U')
BEGIN
   PRINT 'Table Exists'
END

Approach 4: Using sys.Tables Catalog View

We can use the Sys.Tables catalog view to check the existence of the Table as shown below:

 IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM sys.Tables WHERE  Name = N'Customers' AND Type = N'U')
 BEGIN
      PRINT 'Table Exists'
 END

Approach 5: Avoid Using sys.sysobjects System table

We should avoid using sys.sysobjects System Table directly, direct access to it will be deprecated in some future versions of the Sql Server. As per Microsoft BOL link, Microsoft is suggesting to use the catalog views sys.objects/sys.tables instead of sys.sysobjects system table directly.

  IF EXISTS(SELECT name FROM sys.sysobjects WHERE Name = N'Customers' AND xtype = N'U')
  BEGIN
     PRINT 'Table Exists'
  END

referred from: http://sqlhints.com/2014/04/13/how-to-check-if-a-table-exists-in-sql-server/

Looking for a table on a different database:

if exists (select * from MyOtherDatabase.sys.tables where name = 'MyTable')
    print 'Exists'

Just wanted to mention one situation where it would probably be a little easier to use the OBJECT_ID method. The INFORMATION_SCHEMA views are objects under each database-

> The information schema views are defined in a special schema named > INFORMATION_SCHEMA. This schema is contained in each database.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms186778.aspx

Therefore all tables you access using

IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 
           FROM [database].INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
           WHERE TABLE_TYPE='BASE TABLE' 
           AND TABLE_NAME='mytablename') 
   SELECT 1 AS res ELSE SELECT 0 AS res;

will only reflect what is in [database]. If you wanted to check if tables in another database exist, without dynamically changing the [database] each time, OBJECT_ID will let you do this out of the box. Ex-

IF OBJECT_ID (N'db1.schema.table1', N'U') IS NOT NULL 
   SELECT 1 AS res ELSE SELECT 0 AS res;

works just as well as

IF OBJECT_ID (N'db2.schema.table1', N'U') IS NOT NULL 
   SELECT 1 AS res ELSE SELECT 0 AS res;

SQL SERVER 2016 Edit:

Starting with 2016, Microsoft simplified the ability to check for non-existent objects prior to dropping, by adding the if exists keywords to drop statements. For example,

drop table if exists mytablename

will do the same thing as OBJECT_ID / INFORMATION_SCHEMA wrappers, in 1 line of code.

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/sqlserverstorageengine/2015/11/03/drop-if-exists-new-thing-in-sql-server-2016/

IF OBJECT_ID('mytablename') IS NOT NULL 

Using the Information Schema is the SQL Standard way to do it, so it should be used by all databases that support it.

You can use below code

IF (OBJECT_ID('TableName') IS NOT NULL )
BEGIN
  PRINT 'Table Exists'
END
ELSE
BEGIN 
  PRINT 'Table NOT Exists'
END

Or

IF (EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.tables WHERE [name] = 'TableName'))
BEGIN
  PRINT 'Table Exists'
END
ELSE
BEGIN 
  PRINT 'Table NOT Exists'
END

IF EXISTS 
(
    SELECT   * 
    FROM     sys.objects 
    WHERE    object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'[dbo].[Mapping_APCToFANavigator]') 
             AND 
             type in (N'U')
)
BEGIN

    -- Do whatever you need to here.

END

Here in the above code, the table name is Mapping_APCToFANavigator.

If you need to work on different databases:

DECLARE @Catalog VARCHAR(255)
SET @Catalog = 'MyDatabase'

DECLARE @Schema VARCHAR(255)
SET @Schema = 'dbo'

DECLARE @Table VARCHAR(255)
SET @Table = 'MyTable'

IF (EXISTS (SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES   
    WHERE TABLE_CATALOG = @Catalog 
      AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @Schema 
      AND TABLE_NAME = @Table))
BEGIN
   --do stuff
END

I know it is an old question but I have found this possibility if you plan to call it often.

create procedure Table_Exists
@tbl varchar(50)
as
return (select count(*) from sysobjects where type = 'U' and name = @tbl)
go

Just adding here, for the benefit of developers and fellow DBAs

a script that receives @Tablename as a parameter

(which may or may not contain the schemaname) and returns the info below if the schema.table exists:

the_name	            object_id	the_schema	the_table	    the_type
[Facts].[FactBackOrder]	758293761	Facts	    FactBackOrder	Table

I produced this script to be used inside other scripts every time I need to test whether or not a table or view exists, and when it does, get its object_id to be used for other purposes.

It raises an error when either you passed an empty string, wrong schema name or wrong table name.

this could be inside a procedure and return -1 for example.

As an example, I have a table called "Facts.FactBackOrder" in one of my Data Warehouse databases.

This is how I achieved this:

PRINT 'THE SERVER IS ' + @@SERVERNAME
--select db_name()
PRINT 'THE DATABASE IS ' + db_NAME() 
PRINT ''
GO

SET NOCOUNT ON
GO

--===================================================================================
-- @TableName is the parameter
-- the object we want to deal with (it might be an indexed view or a table)
-- the schema might or might not be specified
-- when not specified it is DBO
--===================================================================================

DECLARE @TableName SYSNAME

SELECT @TableName = 'Facts.FactBackOrder'
--===================================================================================
--===================================================================================
DECLARE @Schema SYSNAME
DECLARE @I INT
DECLARE @Z INT 

SELECT @TableName = LTRIM(RTRIM(@TableName))
SELECT @Z = LEN(@TableName)

IF (@Z = 0) BEGIN

			RAISERROR('Invalid @Tablename passed.',16,1)

END 

SELECT @I = CHARINDEX('.',@TableName )
--SELECT @TableName ,@I

IF @I > 0 BEGIN

		--===================================================================================
		-- a schema and table name have been passed
		-- example Facts.FactBackOrder 
		-- @Schema = Fact
		-- @TableName = FactBackOrder
		--===================================================================================

   SELECT @Schema    = SUBSTRING(@TABLENAME,1,@I-1)
   SELECT @TableName = SUBSTRING(@TABLENAME,@I+1,@Z-@I)



END
ELSE BEGIN

		--===================================================================================
		-- just a table name have been passed
		-- so the schema will be dbo
		-- example Orders
		-- @Schema = dbo
		-- @TableName = Orders
		--===================================================================================

   SELECT @Schema    = 'DBO'     


END

		--===================================================================================
		-- Check whether the @SchemaName is valid in the current database
		--===================================================================================

IF NOT EXISTS ( SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA K WHERE K.[SCHEMA_NAME] = @Schema ) BEGIN

            RAISERROR('Invalid Schema Name.',16,1)

END 

--SELECT @Schema  as [@Schema]
--      ,@TableName as [@TableName]


DECLARE @R1 TABLE (

   THE_NAME SYSNAME
  ,THE_SCHEMA SYSNAME
  ,THE_TABLE SYSNAME
  ,OBJECT_ID INT
  ,THE_TYPE SYSNAME
  ,PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (THE_SCHEMA,THE_NAME)

)

;WITH RADHE_01 AS (
SELECT QUOTENAME(SCHEMA_NAME(O.schema_id)) + '.' + QUOTENAME(O.NAME) AS [the_name]
      ,the_schema=SCHEMA_NAME(O.schema_id)
	  ,the_table=O.NAME
      ,object_id =o.object_id 
	  ,[the_type]= CASE WHEN O.TYPE = 'U' THEN 'Table' ELSE 'View' END 
from sys.objects O
where O.is_ms_shipped = 0
AND O.TYPE IN ('U','V')
)
INSERT INTO @R1 (
   THE_NAME 
  ,THE_SCHEMA 
  ,THE_TABLE 
  ,OBJECT_ID
  ,THE_TYPE 
)
SELECT  the_name
	   ,the_schema
	   ,the_table
       ,object_id
	   ,the_type
FROM RADHE_01
WHERE the_schema = @Schema 
  AND the_table  = @TableName

IF (@@ROWCOUNT = 0) BEGIN 

             RAISERROR('Invalid Table Name.',16,1)

END 
ELSE BEGIN

	SELECT     THE_NAME 
			  ,THE_SCHEMA 
			  ,THE_TABLE 
			  ,OBJECT_ID
			  ,THE_TYPE 

	FROM @R1

END 

In SQL Server 2000 you can try:

IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM sysobjects WHERE type = 'U' and name = 'MYTABLENAME')
BEGIN
   SELECT 1 AS 'res' 
END

IF EXISTS 
(
    SELECT  * 

    FROM    INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 

    WHERE   TABLE_SCHEMA = 'PutSchemaHere'     
            AND  
            TABLE_NAME   = 'PutTableNameHere'
)

I always check this way.

IF OBJECT_ID('TestXML..tblCustomer') IS NOT NULL  
BEGIN  
	PRINT 'Exist'
END  
ELSE
BEGIN
	PRINT 'Not Exist'
END 

Thanks

Something important to know for anybody who hasn't found their solution yet: SQL server != MYSQL. If you want to do it with MYSQL, it is quite simple

	$sql = "SELECT 1 FROM `db_name`.`table_name` LIMIT 1;";
	$result = mysql_query($sql);
	if( $result == false )
		echo "table DOES NOT EXIST";
	else
		echo "table exists";

Posting this here because it's the top hit at Google.

You can use this :

     IF OBJECT_ID (N'dbo.T', N'U') IS NOT NULL 
     	BEGIN 
     		print 'deleted table';
     		drop table t 
     	END
     else 
     	begin 
     		print 'table not found' 
     	end

 Create table t (id int identity(1,1) not null, name varchar(30) not null, lastname varchar(25) null)
 insert into t( name, lastname) values('john','doe');
 insert into t( name, lastname) values('rose',NULL);
 
 Select * from t
1	john	doe
2	rose	NULL

 -- clean
 drop table t

I've had some problems either with selecting from INFORMATIONAL_SCHEME and OBJECT_ID. I don't know if it's an issue of ODBC driver or something.. Queries from SQL management studio, both, were okay.

Here is the solution:

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM <yourTableNameHere>

So, if the query fails, there is, probably, no such table in the database (or you don't have access permissions to it).

The check is done by comparing the value (integer in my case) returned by SQL executor which deals with ODBC driver..

if (sqlexec(conectionHandle, 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM myTable') == -1) {
  // myTable doesn't exist..
}

IF EXISTS (
SELECT *
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE 
TABLE_CATALOG = 'Database Name' and
TABLE_NAME = 'Table Name' and 
TABLE_SCHEMA = 'Schema Name') -- Database and Schema name in where statement can be deleted

BEGIN
--TABLE EXISTS
END

ELSE BEGIN
--TABLE DOES NOT EXISTS
END

IF EXISTS (   SELECT * FROM   dbo.sysobjects WHERE  id = OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.TableName') AND OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsUserTable') = 1 )
BEGIN
  SELECT * FROM dbo.TableName;
END
GO

If anyone is trying to do this same thing in linq to sql (or especially linqpad) turn on option to include system tables and views and do this code:

let oSchema = sys.Schemas.FirstOrDefault(s=>s.Name==a.schema )
where oSchema !=null
let o=oSchema!=null?sys.Objects.FirstOrDefault (o => o.Name==a.item && o.Schema_id==oSchema.Schema_id):null
where o!=null

given that you have an object with the name in a property called item, and the schema in a property called schema where the source variable name is a

select name from SysObjects where xType='U' and name like '%xxx%' order by name

---

-- -- create procedure to check if a table exists

---

DELIMITER $$

DROP PROCEDURE IF EXISTS `checkIfTableExists`;

CREATE PROCEDURE checkIfTableExists(
    IN databaseName CHAR(255),
    IN tableName CHAR(255),
    OUT boolExistsOrNot CHAR(40)
)

  BEGIN
      SELECT count(*) INTO boolExistsOrNot FROM information_schema.TABLES
      WHERE (TABLE_SCHEMA = databaseName)
      AND (TABLE_NAME = tableName);
  END $$

DELIMITER ;

---

-- -- how to use : check if table migrations exists

---

 CALL checkIfTableExists('muDbName', 'migrations', @output);

i taking here creating a view as example.

Because ALTER/CREATE commands can't be within BEGIN/END blocks. You need to test for existence and the drop it before doing a create

IF Object_ID('TestView') IS NOT NULL
DROP VIEW TestView

GO

CREATE VIEW TestView
   as
   . . .

GO

If you are woried about the permissions being lost you can script the GRANT statements as well and re-run those at the end.

You could wrap the create/alter into a string and do an EXEC - that might get ugly for large views

DECLARE @SQL as varchar(4000)

-- set to body of view
SET @SQL = 'SELECT X, Y, Z FROM TABLE' 

IF Object_ID('TestView') IS NULL
    SET @SQL = 'CREATE VIEW TestView AS ' + @SQL
ELSE    
    SET @SQL = 'ALTER VIEW TestView AS ' + @SQL

There is one more option to check if the table exists across databases

IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM [change-to-your-database].SYS.TABLES WHERE NAME = 'change-to-your-table-name')
BEGIN
	-- do whatever you want
END

If this is to be the 'ultimate' discussion, then it should be noted that Larry Leonard's script can query a remote server as well if the servers are linked.

if exists (select * from REMOTE_SERVER.MyOtherDatabase.sys.tables where name = 'MyTable')
    print 'Exists'

Run this query to check if the table exists in the database:

IF(SELECT TABLE_NAME from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES where TABLE_NAME = 'YourTableName') IS NOT NULL
PRINT 'Table Exists';

consider in one database you have a table t1. you want to run script on other Database like - if t1 exist then do nothing else create t1. To do this open visual studio and do the following:

Right click on t1, then Script table as, then DROP and Create To, then New Query Editor

you will find your desired query. But before executing that script don't forget to comment out the drop statement in the query as you don't want to create new one if there is already one.

Thanks