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UNION ALL

Keep duplicates when combining.

UNION ALL

UNION ALL combines two SELECT results keeping duplicates. It is faster than UNION.

SELECT name FROM customers
UNION ALL
SELECT name FROM suppliers;

This query gives all names including duplicates.

name is selected from customers.

UNION ALL — details

UNION ALL is faster because it does not filter duplicates. Use it when duplicates matter.

For example, if the same person is both a customer and a supplier, UNION ALL shows them twice and UNION once.

Practice UNION ALL

Combine customer and supplier names with UNION ALL keeping duplicates.

Starter code

query.sql
-- with duplicates
SELECT name FROM customers
UNION

Sample solution

query.sql
SELECT name FROM customers
UNION ALL
SELECT name FROM suppliers;

Expected output

name
Ayşe
Mehmet
Ayşe

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 Add ALL

Question
SELECT name FROM customers
UNION ____
SELECT name FROM suppliers;
Answer
SELECT name FROM customers
UNION ALL
SELECT name FROM suppliers;

Explanation: UNION ALL keeps duplicate rows too and is faster than UNION.

2 What does UNION ALL do with duplicates?

  • Removes them
  • Counts
  • Keeps them Correct answer
  • Raises an error

Explanation: UNION ALL keeps duplicates.

3 UNION ALL: match the terms

Term Meaning
UNION no duplicates
UNION ALL with duplicates
fast no filtering
DISTINCT unique

All lessons in Intermediate