SQL SELECT All Columns (*)

The asterisk means every column — quick to write, but worth using deliberately, not by default.

What & Why

SELECT * returns every column in the table, without naming any of them individually. It's the fastest way to peek at a table's full shape while exploring — but naming exact columns is usually the better habit once you know what you actually need.

See How It Works

id	name	channel	spend	start_date	end_date	status	target_segment
1	Spring Launch	google_ads	55000.00	2024-01-15	2024-03-31	active	smb
2	Retention Webinar	email	45000.00	2024-02-10	2024-04-15	active	enterprise
3	Finance Retargeting	linkedin	50000.00	2024-03-12	2024-05-31	active	enterprise
4	Enterprise Search	google_ads	60000.00	2024-04-01	2024-06-30	active	enterprise

EXAMPLE QUERY

SELECT *
FROM marketing.campaigns;

RESULT — every marketing.campaigns column

id	name	channel	spend	start_date	end_date	status	target_segment
1	Spring Launch	google_ads	55000.00	2024-01-15	2024-03-31	active	smb
2	Retention Webinar	email	45000.00	2024-02-10	2024-04-15	active	enterprise
3	Finance Retargeting	linkedin	50000.00	2024-03-12	2024-05-31	active	enterprise
4	Enterprise Search	google_ads	60000.00	2024-04-01	2024-06-30	active	enterprise

SELECT * returns all eight columns in marketing.campaigns for every row shown here.

Now You Try

Practice this concept

Product is exploring its feature table. Return every available column for the first five feature records.

Available schema

product

Prefix tables with product.table_name.

idnamedescriptionteamreleased_atdeprecated_atinternal_priority

product.features

Column	Type
id	integer
name	text
description	text
team	text
released_at	timestamp with time zone
deprecated_at	timestamp with time zone
internal_priority	integer

query.sql

Beginner business practice