How to rename a column name in Google Bigquery table - with Examples

Bigquery doesnt support altering table definitions, But it does allow you to replace tables. You can use this feature to rename a column in Google Bigquery:

Example: Lets consider you want to rename two columns, EId into EmpId and Enm into Emp_Name, you can use the below SQL to alter the columns. 

• Make sure to include all the columns from the table in the select list 
• Use aliases for the columns that needs to be renamed

create or replace table `mydataset.Employee` as 
SELECT EId as EmpId, Enm as Emp_Name, Emp_Location FROM `mydataset.Employee`;

This will create the new table with the new column names as well as copy the data from the old to the new version of the table.

nVector

posted on 08 Jun 20