In MySQL SQL, the DISTINCT clause is used to remove duplicates from the result set of a SELECT statement.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the "DISTINCT" clause In MySQL SQL language. We will walkthrough the "DISTINCT" syntax with detailed explanations and examples.

The DISTINCT Syntax

The syntax of a DISTINCT clause is as follows:

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column_name

table_name

condition

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Examples - How to use DISTINCT clause to find the unique value of a column

In this tutorial, we will use the well-known Northwind sample database for demonstration purpose. Below is a portion of data selected from the employee table:

id	last_name	first_name	job_title
1	Freehafer	Nancy	Sales Representative
2	Cencini	Andrew	Vice President, Sales
3	Kotas	Jan	Sales Representative
4	Sergienko	Mariya	Sales Representative
5	Thorpe	Steven	Sales Manager
6	Neipper	Michael	Sales Representative
7	Zare	Robert	Sales Representative
8	Giussani	Laura	Sales Coordinator
9	Hellung-Larsen	Anne	Sales Representative

Here is the example to select the distinct job_title from the employee table



The result is:

job_title	total
Sales Coordinator	1
Sales Manager	1
Sales Representative	6
Vice President, Sales	1

In the above exmple, we have selected only the distinct job_title from the table: employee. In other words, it is the unique value of the column: job_title

Examples - How to use DISTINCT clause to find the unique value of multiple column

Now, we can explore how to use the DISTINCT clause to find the unique value of multiple column. Consider we have the following tables: orders

orders table with the following data:

ship_address	ship_city
123 4th Street	New York
789 29th Street	Denver
123 3rd Street	Los Angelas
123 6th Street	Milwaukee
789 28th Street	Memphis
123 8th Street	Portland
123 10th Street	Chicago
123 7th Street	Boise
123 10th Street	Chicago
123 11th Street	Miami
123 1st Street	Seattle
789 28th Street	Memphis
123 9th Street	Salt Lake City
123 6th Street	Milwaukee
123 8th Street	Portland
789 25th Street	Chicago
789 26th Street	Miami
789 29th Street	Denver
123 6th Street	Milwaukee
123 4th Street	New York
123 3rd Street	Los Angelas

We can select the distinct value of both the two columns: ship_address and ship_city



The result is:

ship_address	ship_city
123 4th Street	New York
789 29th Street	Denver
123 3rd Street	Los Angelas
123 6th Street	Milwaukee
789 28th Street	Memphis
123 8th Street	Portland
123 10th Street	Chicago
123 7th Street	Boise
123 11th Street	Miami
123 1st Street	Seattle
123 9th Street	Salt Lake City
789 25th Street	Chicago
789 26th Street	Miami

In the above example, we have used the DISTINCT clause to select unique of both of the columns: ship_address and ship_city of the table: order