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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-18T12:18:57+00:00

BIG UPDATE: Ok I was getting the whole auto-increment point wrong. I though this

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“BIG” UPDATE:

Ok I was getting the whole
auto-increment point wrong. I though
this would be an easier way to target
the first, second, third and so row,
but it is just the wrong approach.

You should instead care about that the
auto_increments are unique and well…
that they increment. You should use
the for that.

I wont delete this question because I
think it might be helpful for someone
else with the same wrong idea, BUT
BE WARNED! 🙂

I have a very simple MySQL table which went like this:

id    comment    user

1     hello      name1
2     bye        name2
3     hola       name3

Then I deleted the two first comments, the result:

id    comment    user

3     hola      name3

So now when I add comments:

id    comment    user

3     hola      name3
5     chau      name4
6     xxx       name5

My problem is that I would need that whenever a row gets deleted it should “start over” and look like this.

id    comment    user

1     hola      name3
2     chau      name4
3     xxx       name5

I would like to know how is it possible to some how “restart” the table so that it is “always” indexed 1, 2, 3 and so on.

Thanks in advance!!

I hope I have explained myself clear enough, I’m sorry for all my “plain english”, feel free to edit if you think a word might be confusing 🙂 and please ask for any clarification needed!

BTW: I did not add any of my code because this is a simplified situation and I though it be more confusing and less helpful to others, but I you think it would help (or is necessary) tell me about it!

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Can’t be done using MySQL’s autoincrement feature. You could roll your own solution, e.g. a mix between application logic and database triggers. BUT, seriosly, your design is heavily broken if it requires you to recycle UNIQUE IDs.

    Couldn’t you just create another table where you’d save references like that (this could be done by querying the minimum) and let your main table point to that auxilliary table?

    EDIT
    Here’s a blog I’ve googled that deals with your problem: see here.

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