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How to override Auto Increment in MySQL

The auto-increment feature in MySQL allows a column to generate unique, incrementing values automatically when new rows are inserted.

However, sometimes we may need to override the auto-increment behavior. For instance, in situations like importing data with existing IDs or reusing previously deleted IDs.

In order to override the auto-increment value in MySQL, we have to specify a value for the auto-increment column when during the INSERT operation. For instance:

INSERT INTO table_name (id, column1, column2) VALUES (5, 'value1', 'value2');

Here, we have mentioned the value 5 as the auto-increment column id. Hence, MySQL inserts the row with the provided ID value, thereby overriding the auto-increment mechanism.

Our experts would like to point out that manually overriding the auto-increment value may lead to OTHER issues. Especially if the value violates primary key constraints or conflicts with existing data. In that scenario, MySQL will throw an error.

Alternatively, if we want to override the auto-increment value for an existing row, we have to use the UPDATE statement as seen here:

UPDATE table_name SET id = 5 WHERE condition;

Here, the row is updated by setting the id column to the desired value.

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Conclusion

To conclude, our Support Techs demonstrated how to override auto increment.