Copying a Database Table with PhpMyAdmin

Copying a table is quick and easy to do within PhpMyAdmin. Whether you are trying to make a backup copy before changes are made, archiving data, moving data to a new site or application, or even just working on restructuring your database, PhpMyAdmin can help you get the job done in just a few clicks.

This guide assumes that you have already logged in to PhpMyAdmin.We will go over how to copy a table and go over a few of the options PhpMyAdmin gives us.

Select the Database

First, from the main page in PhpMyAdmin, use the navigation menu on the left-hand side and click on the database where the table we want to copy is located at.

Then, click on the table name.

Copy Table

Next, go to the Operations tab on the top of the page, which may be under the More option tab if the screen isn’t wide enough.

Then, under the “Copy table to” section, it has a dropdown menu that lists all the databases that our user has access to.

So, we can copy the table into a different table or even within the same table. If we do use the same table, we need to change the table name in the next box. In this case, we will just add the number 2 to the end of the table name to make a quick backup copy.

Table Structure

The radio button for “Structure and data” is generally what would be used to make a copy of the whole table. The term “Structure only” implies that it only copies columns and format of the table, without transferring any actual data.

This function may be useful if we want to create a similar table, but do not want to go through setting up all the column types and lengths. Then the “Data only” option will only copy the records as long as they fit within the new table’s existing structure.

If the table that we are copying the data into exists, and already has records or structure, then we would want to check the "Add Drop Table" box to remove the existing data, and then replace it with the newly copied information.

If our table does not exist, it will create that table for us. If we leave the "Adjust privileges" box checked, it means that PhpMyAdmin will grant the same level of user privileges from the original table to a new user on the new table.

To apply these actions, click on the Go button in the lower right corner.

Now we can see the duplicated table in the left navigation menu.

Clicking on the replicated table shows that all records were copied correctly, and it has the same format as the original table!

Conclusion

PhpMyAdmin allows us to copy a database table in only a few steps right through the browser. The user interface simplifies the process and results can be seen within seconds.

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