DELETE & TRUNCATE in Sql server

Truncate will actually remove all the rows from a table and there will be no data in the table after we run the truncate command.

Delete command removes the rows from a table based on the condition that we provide with a WHERE clause

 

TRUNCATE is faster and uses fewer system and transaction log resources than DELETE.

 

DELETE removes rows one at a time and records an entry in the transaction log for each deleted row.

 

TRUNCATE Resets identity of the table

DELETE does not reset identity of the table.

TRUNCATE removes all rows from a table, but the table structure, its columns, constraints, indexes and so on, remains. The counter used by an identity for new rows is reset to the seed for the column.

 

DELETE Can be used with or without a WHERE clause

 

You cannot use TRUNCATE TABLE on a table referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint. Because TRUNCATE TABLE is not logged, it cannot activate a trigger.

 

DELETE Activates Triggers.

 

TRUNCATE cannot be rolled back.

                         

DELETE can be rolled back.

 

TRUNCATE is DDL Command.

                         

DELETE is DML Command.

 

TRUNCATE removes the data by deallocating the data pages used to store the table's data, and only the page deallocations are recorded in the transaction log.

 

If you want to retain the identity counter, use DELETE instead. If you want to remove table definition and its data, use the DROP TABLE statement.