SQL Query Explainer

Paste a query to see what each part does, in plain English, in the order the database actually runs it.

Your SQL query

Try:

How it works

The explainer reads the structure of your query: its clauses, joins, conditions, groups and columns. It then describes each part in the database's logical order of execution:

FROM and JOINs → WHERE → GROUP BY → HAVING → SELECT → DISTINCT → ORDER BY → LIMIT

That order explains many common surprises, such as why a column alias works in ORDER BY but not in WHERE.

What it supports

SELECT queries with joins, subqueries, CTEs (WITH), aggregates, window functions, UNION, INTERSECT and EXCEPT.
INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE TABLE, ALTER, DROP and TRUNCATE, including warnings for changes without a WHERE clause.

Limitations

The explainer does not connect to a database, so it cannot see your data, check that tables or columns exist, or guarantee that a query will run without errors. Very unusual or vendor-specific syntax may be described only in general terms. Nothing you paste leaves your browser.

To learn the concepts behind each step, start with SELECT, then JOINs and GROUP BY.