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How to reclaim space after table drop in MySQL

Did you know that dropping a database does not immediately reclaim the space used by the database files in MySQL?

When we drop a database, the database and its associated files are marked for deletion. However, the actual space is not immediately freed up.

This is common in DBMS as it helps with data integrity and allows potential recovery in case the database is dropped accidentally.

Fortunately, we can easily reclaim the space after dropping a database with these steps:

1. First, we have to use the DROP DATABASE statement to remove the database and its metadata from the MySQL server.

   DROP DATABASE database_name;
2. Next, we can opt to stop the MySQL service before the next step. This is an optional step, nut helps makes the process easier.
3. Then, it is time to locate the directory where MySQL stores its data files. Now, we have to find the subdirectory named after the dropped database and delete it and its contents manually.
4. Finally, we have to restart the service for the changes to take effect.

   sudo service mysql start # Linux
sudo systemctl start mysql # Linux (systemd)


Let us know in the comments if you need further help with reclaiming space after dropping a database in MySQL.

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Conclusion

Today, our Support Techs demonstrated how to reclaim space after dropping a database.