Editing a column in a MySQL database—whether you’re changing its name, data type, or constraints—is done using the ALTER TABLE statement. Here’s a complete tutorial with step-by-step instructions and helpful video guides to walk you through it.

🛠️ How to Edit a Column in MySQL

🔧 1. Modify a Column’s Data Type or Constraints

Use the MODIFY COLUMN clause:

ALTER TABLE table_name
MODIFY COLUMN column_name new_data_type;

📘 Example:

ALTER TABLE users
MODIFY COLUMN age INT NOT NULL;

📺 How to alter and modify a column in MySQL | Alter a Table in … clearly demonstrates how to change column types and apply constraints using ALTER TABLE.

📖 Learn more from W3Schools: MySQL ALTER TABLE and MySQL Tutorial: ALTER TABLE.

✏️ 2. Rename a Column

Use the CHANGE COLUMN clause:

ALTER TABLE table_name
CHANGE COLUMN old_name new_name data_type;

📘 Example:

ALTER TABLE users
CHANGE COLUMN fullname name VARCHAR(100);

📺 Change or rename column name in SQL | Mysql tutorial walks through renaming a column using MySQL Workbench and the CHANGE keyword.

📺 MySQL Tutorial for Beginners 20 – MySQL ALTER TABLE … includes a section on renaming columns and using ALTER TABLE effectively.

➕ 3. Add a New Column

ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD COLUMN new_column_name data_type;

📺 MySQL tutorial 14 – Altering tables shows how to add, remove, and modify columns in under 7 minutes.

❌ 4. Delete a Column

ALTER TABLE table_name
DROP COLUMN column_name;

📺 MySQL Database Tutorial – 31 – ALTER / DROP / RENAME … covers dropping columns and renaming tables with practical examples.

🔄 5. Update Data in a Column

If you want to change the actual data inside a column:

UPDATE table_name
SET column_name = new_value
WHERE condition;

📺 MySQL tutorial 11 – Update a row demonstrates how to update rows using UPDATE and WHERE clauses.