SQL LEFT JOIN Keyword

The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all records from the left table (table1), and the matching records from the right table (table2). The result is 0 records from the right side, if there is no match.

LEFT JOIN Syntax

SELECT column_name(s)
FROM table1
LEFT JOIN table2
ON table1.column_name = table2.column_name;

Note: In some databases LEFT JOIN is called LEFT OUTER JOIN.

SQL LEFT JOIN

Demo Database

In this tutorial we will use the well-known Northwind sample database.

Below is a selection from the "Customers" table:

CustomerID	CustomerName	ContactName	Address	City	PostalCode	Country
1	Alfreds Futterkiste	Maria Anders	Obere Str. 57	Berlin	12209	Germany
2	Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados	Ana Trujillo	Avda. de la Constitución 2222	México D.F.	05021	Mexico
3	Antonio Moreno Taquería	Antonio Moreno	Mataderos 2312	México D.F.	05023	Mexico

And a selection from the "Orders" table:

OrderID	CustomerID	EmployeeID	OrderDate	ShipperID
10308	2	7	1996-09-18	3
10309	37	3	1996-09-19	1
10310	77	8	1996-09-20	2

SQL LEFT JOIN Example

The following SQL statement will select all customers, and any orders they might have:

Example

SELECT Customers.CustomerName, Orders.OrderID
FROM Customers
LEFT JOIN Orders ON Customers.CustomerID = Orders.CustomerID
ORDER BY Customers.CustomerName;

Try it Yourself »

Note: The LEFT JOIN keyword returns all records from the left table (Customers), even if there are no matches in the right table (Orders).

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