## Syntax
```mermaid
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flowchart LR
dropIndexStatement_start((START))
dropIndexStatement_start --> dropIndexStatement_0_0[DROP]:::quoted
dropIndexStatement_0_0 --> dropIndexStatement_0_1[INDEX]:::quoted
dropIndexStatement_0_1 --> dropIndexStatement_0_2[IF EXISTS]:::quoted
dropIndexStatement_0_1 --> dropIndexStatement_0_3[identifier]
dropIndexStatement_0_2 --> dropIndexStatement_0_3
dropIndexStatement_0_3 --> dropIndexStatement_0_4[ON]:::quoted
dropIndexStatement_0_4 --> dropIndexStatement_0_5[tableSpec]
dropIndexStatement_0_5 --> dropIndexStatement_end((END))
```
## Purpose
The `drop index` statement drops an index of a table, as created by [[Create Index (createIndexStatement)|create index]]. The name of an index is unique per table, so the table is always named. An error is raised when the table has no index of that name. With `if exists`, the statement then affects no row.
Dropping a unique index allows rows with the same values in its columns again. The statement is available for the platforms of `create index`. Available from release 28.0 and the beta release 27.1 before it.
## Examples
The following example drops the index `orders_n1` of the table `orders` in the in-memory storage:
```sql
drop index if exists orders_n1 on orders@inmemorystorage
```