How can I list all collections in the MongoDB shell?

In the MongoDB shell, how do I list all collections for the current database that I'm using?

You can do...

JavaScript (shell):

db.getCollectionNames()

Node.js:

db.listCollections()

Non-JavaScript (shell only):

show collections

The reason I call that non-JavaScript is because:

$ mongo prodmongo/app --eval "show collections"
MongoDB shell version: 3.2.10
connecting to: prodmongo/app
2016-10-26T19:34:34.886-0400 E QUERY    [thread1] SyntaxError: missing ; before statement @(shell eval):1:5

$ mongo prodmongo/app --eval "db.getCollectionNames()"
MongoDB shell version: 3.2.10
connecting to: prodmongo/app
[
    "Profiles",
    "Unit_Info"
]

If you really want that sweet, sweet show collections output, you can:

$ mongo prodmongo/app --eval "db.getCollectionNames().join('\n')"
MongoDB shell version: 3.2.10
connecting to: prodmongo/app
Profiles
Unit_Info

> show collections

will list all the collections in the currently selected DB, as stated in the command line help (help).

> How do I list all collections for the current database that I'm using?

Three methods

• show collections
• show tables
• db.getCollectionNames()

---

To list all databases:

show dbs

To enter or use a given database:

use databasename

---

To list all collections:

show collections

Output:

> collection1 collection2 system.indexes

(or)

show tables

Output:

> collection1 collection2 system.indexes

(or)

db.getCollectionNames()

Output:

> [ "collection1", "collection2", "system.indexes" ]

---

To enter or use given collection

use collectionname

> show tables

It gives the same result as Cameron's answer.

Apart from the options suggested by other people:

show collections  // Output every collection
show tables
db.getCollectionNames() // Shows all collections as a list

There is also another way which can be really handy if you want to know how each of the collections was created (for example, it is a capped collection with a particular size):

db.system.namespaces.find()

First you need to use a database to show all collection/tables inside it.

>show dbs
users 0.56787GB
test (empty)
>db.test.help() // this will give you all the function which can be used with this db
>use users
>show tables //will show all the collection in the db

Try:

help // To show all help methods
show dbs  // To show all dbs
use dbname  // To select your db
show collections // To show all collections in selected db

You can use show tables or show collections.

The command used for displaying all the collections in the MongoDB database is

show collections

Before running the show collections command you have to select the database:

use mydb // mydb is the name of the database being selected

To see all the databases, you can use the command

show dbs // Shows all the database names present

For more information, visit see Getting Started.

The following commands on mongoshell are common.

show databases
show collections

Also,

show dbs
use mydb
db.getCollectionNames()

Sometimes it's useful to see all collections as well as the indexes on the collections which are part of the overall namespace:

Here's how you would do that:

db.getCollectionNames().forEach(function(collection) {
    indexes = db[collection].getIndexes();
    print("Indexes for " + collection + ":");
    printjson(indexes);
});

Between the three commands and this snippet, you should be well covered!

If you want to show all collections from the MongoDB shell (command line), use the shell helper,

show collections

that shows all collections for the current database. If you want to get all collection lists from your application then you can use the MongoDB database method

db.getCollectionNames()

For more information about the MongoDB shell helper, you can see mongo Shell Quick Reference.

I think one of the biggest confusions is the difference between what you can do with mongo (or an interactive/hybrid shell) vs. mongo --eval (or a pure JavaScript shell). I keep these helpful documents handy:

• Differences Between Interactive and Scripted mongo
• Mongo Shell Command Helpers

Here is an example of scripting what you might otherwise do with show commands:

# List all databases and the collections in them

mongo --eval "
    db.getMongo().getDBNames().forEach(
        function(v, i){
            print(
                v + '\n\t' +
                db.getSiblingDB(v).getCollectionNames().join('\n\t')
            )
        }
    )
"

Note: That works really well as a one-liner. (But it looks terrible on Stack Overflow.)

mongo --eval "db.getMongo().getDBNames().forEach(function(v, i){print(v+'\n\t'+db.getSiblingDB(v).getCollectionNames().join('\n\t'))})"

 1. show collections; // Display all collections
 2. show tables     // Display all collections
 3. db.getCollectionNames();   // Return array of collection. Example :[ "orders", "system.profile" ]

Detailed information for every collection:

db.runCommand( { listCollections: 1.0, authorizedCollections: true, nameOnly: true } )

• For users with the required access (privileges that grant listCollections action on the database), the method lists the names of all collections for the database.
• For users without the required access, the method lists only the collections for which the users has privileges. For example, if a user has find on a specific collection in a database, the method would return just that collection.

To list collections list based on a search string.

db.getCollectionNames().filter(function (CollectionName) { return /<Search String>/.test(CollectionName) })

Example: Find all collection having "import" in the name

db.getCollectionNames().filter(function (CollectionName) { return /import/.test(CollectionName) })

> show dbs        
anuradhfirst  0.000GB
local         0.000GB
> use anuradhfirst
switched to db anuradhfirst
> show collections
record

• connect with the MongoDB database using mongo. This will start the connection.
• then run show dbs command. This will show you all exiting/available databases.
• then select the database you want. In the above it is anuradhfirst. Then run use anuradhfirst. This will switch to the database you want.
• then run show collections command. This will show all the collections inside your selected database.

For switching to the database.

By:

use {your_database_name} example:

use friends

where friends is the name of your database.

Then write:

db.getCollectionNames()
show collections

This will give you the name of collections.

On >=2.x, you can do

db.listCollections()

On 1.x you can do

db.getCollectionNames()

List all collections from the mongo shell:

> - db.getCollectionNames() > - show collections > - show tables > > Note: Collections will show from current database where you are in > currently

> show collections

This command usually works on the MongoDB shell once you have switched to the database.

In case anyone uses Python & PyMongo:

db.list_collection_names()

> For MongoDB 3.0 deployments using the WiredTiger storage engine, if > you run db.getCollectionNames() from a version of the mongo shell > before 3.0 or a version of the driver prior to 3.0 compatible version, > db.getCollectionNames() will return no data, even if there are > existing collections.

For further details, please refer to this.

I use listCollections (supports MongoDB 3.0 and up) for this purpose.

Example:

db.runCommand({ listCollections: 1, filter: {}, nameOnly: true });

To fetch more information like the index of the collection:

db.runCommand({ listCollections: 1, filter: {}, nameOnly: false });

To print just the collection names:

db.runCommand({ listCollections: 1, filter: {}, nameOnly: true }).cursor.firstBatch.forEach(v => {print(v.name)})

I feel this provides more flexibility.

Read more: listCollections

Use the following command from the mongo shell:

show collections

> show collections

or

> show tables

or

> db.getCollectionNames();