The SQL SELECT TOP Clause
The SELECT TOP clause is used to specify the number of records to return.
The SELECT TOP clause is useful on large tables with thousands of records. Returning a large number of records can impact performance.
Example
Select only the first 3 records of the Customers table:
SELECT TOP 3 * FROM Customers;
Note: Not all database systems support the SELECT TOP clause. MySQL supports the LIMIT clause to select a limited number of records, while Oracle uses FETCH FIRST n ROWS ONLY and ROWNUM.
SQL Server / MS Access Syntax:
SELECT TOP number|percent column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition;
MySQL Syntax:
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE condition
LIMIT number;
Oracle 12 Syntax:
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name(s)
FETCH FIRST number ROWS ONLY;
Older Oracle Syntax:
SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table_name
WHERE ROWNUM <= number;
Older Oracle Syntax (with ORDER BY):
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT column_name(s) FROM table_name ORDER BY column_name(s))
WHERE ROWNUM <= number;
Demo Database
Below is a selection from the Customers table used in the examples:
| CustomerID | CustomerName | ContactName | Address | City | PostalCode | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alfreds Futterkiste | Maria Anders | Obere Str. 57 | Berlin | 12209 | Germany |
| 2 | Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados | Ana Trujillo | Avda. de la Constitución 2222 | México D.F. | 05021 | Mexico |
| 3 | Antonio Moreno Taquería | Antonio Moreno | Mataderos 2312 | México D.F. | 05023 | Mexico |
| 4 | Around the Horn | Thomas Hardy | 120 Hanover Sq. | London | WA1 1DP | UK |
| 5 | Berglunds snabbköp | Christina Berglund | Berguvsvägen 8 | Luleå | S-958 22 | Sweden |
LIMIT
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for MySQL:
Example
Select the first 3 records of the Customers table:
SELECT * FROM Customers
LIMIT 3;
FETCH FIRST
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for Oracle:
Example
Select the first 3 records of the Customers table:
SELECT * FROM Customers
FETCH FIRST 3 ROWS ONLY;
SQL TOP PERCENT Example
The following SQL statement selects the first 50% of the records from the "Customers" table (for SQL Server/MS Access):
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for Oracle:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
FETCH FIRST 50 PERCENT ROWS ONLY;
ADD a WHERE CLAUSE
The following SQL statement selects the first three records from the "Customers" table, where the country is "Germany" (for SQL Server/MS Access):
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for MySQL:
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for Oracle:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
WHERE Country='Germany'
FETCH FIRST 3 ROWS ONLY;
ADD the ORDER BY Keyword
Add the ORDER BY keyword when you want to sort the result, and return the first 3 records of the sorted result.
For SQL Server and MS Access:
Example
Sort the result reverse alphabetically by CustomerName, and return the first 3 records:
SELECT TOP 3 * FROM Customers
ORDER BY CustomerName DESC;
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for MySQL:
The following SQL statement shows the equivalent example for Oracle:
Example
SELECT * FROM Customers
ORDER BY CustomerName DESC
FETCH FIRST 3 ROWS ONLY;
