Modifying fields in database tables with phpMyAdmin

Learn how to edit a field in a database table - change its name, type, length or default - using phpMyAdmin in cPanel.

As your needs change, you may want to adjust a field in a table - make a text field longer, change its data type, rename it, or set a different default. phpMyAdmin lets you edit any field without writing SQL. This guide shows how.

Before you start

Open phpMyAdmin from the Databases section of cPanel, click your database, then click the table that contains the field. New to phpMyAdmin? See Becoming familiar with databases in phpMyAdmin.

Change a field

With the table open, click the Structure tab. You will see a list of the table's fields, each with a Change link in the Action column.
Click Change next to the field you want to edit.
Adjust the settings as needed. For example, to allow longer phone numbers you might increase the Length/Values of the phone field from 20 to 30. You can also change its Name, Type, Default value, or whether it allows NULL.
Click Save.

phpMyAdmin applies the change and returns you to the Structure view, where the field now shows its updated definition.

The structure showing the phone field updated to varchar(30)

Changing a field's Type can alter or truncate existing data - for example shortening a VARCHAR, or switching text to a number. If the table already holds data, export a backup before making big type changes.

To add a brand-new field instead, see Inserting fields into database tables; to remove one, see Deleting fields from database tables.

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