There are two ways to empty a MySQL database: via phpMyAdmin and SSH.
NOTE 1: By default, SSH access is disabled on all our shared servers. If you need SSH to be enabled, follow the steps from this guide to do it or contact our Hosting department via Live Chat or email.
NOTE 2: We recommend making a backup of your database before proceeding with any changes.
Using phpMyAdmin
To empty a database follow these steps:
1. Go to cPanel >> Databases section >> phpMyAdmin menu.
You can quickly access
phpMyAdmin using
cPanel Shortcuts in the Namecheap account.
2. Select the database you wish to empty. A list with all the database tables will appear on the left (you may have just one database if only one website is hosted):
3. Tick Check All to select all tables and choose the Drop option from the With selected drop-down list:
4. This will execute the DROP TABLE SQL query to empty all the tables at once. On the next step, confirm you wish to proceed by clicking the Yes button:
Using SSH
When you have a large database, it can be quicker to drop the database via SSH:
1. First, check if the database user has the privileges to Drop and Create. Go to cPanel > Databases section > MySQL Databases menu:
2. Find the database you wish to drop and click the assigned username:
3. You will see what privileges this user has. Make sure Drop and Create options are selected.
If these options are not ticked, select them and click Make Changes:
3. Connect to the hosting account via SSH. You can find the detailed instructions here.
4. Once connected, run the following command:
mysql -uUsername -pPassword
where:
Username - the MySQL user assigned to the database you are working with.
Password - password for the MySQL user.
5. You should receive the following output:
6. To drop the database run this command:
drop database database_name
where database_name is the name of your database:
That's it!
