What is the maximum range of varchar in MySQL?

Question

I am using the latest version of MySQL and in many sites it is being told that the size is 255. But when i am trying to give a higher size like 500 or 1000, it works for me. So is there a maximum number for varchar datatype?

255 is the largest VARCHAR size that can be indexed. – Collin Anderson May 08 '13 at 16:59 — Collin Anderson, May 08 '13 at 16:59

Bozho · Accepted Answer · 2011-05-06T20:28:30.527

9

It was 255 before 5.0.3, but now:

Values in VARCHAR columns are variable-length strings. The length can be specified as a value from 0 to 65,535.

The documentation of 5.0.x shows the transition:

Values in VARCHAR columns are variable-length strings. The length can be specified as a value from 0 to 255 before MySQL 5.0.3, and 0 to 65,535 in 5.0.3 and later versions.

edited May 06 '11 at 20:28

answered May 06 '11 at 06:14

Bozho

572,413
138
1,043
1,132

Then the size is same as that of text data type i guess. Text range is also 65,535 – Deviprasad Das May 06 '11 at 06:15
I got it :) The most important thing is "The length is shared amont all column", which is not in the case of text data type. Isn't it? – Deviprasad Das May 06 '11 at 06:20

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered May 06 '11 at 06:14

6

The effective maximum length of a VARCHAR is subject to the maximum row size (65,535 bytes, which is shared among all columns) and the character set used.

see http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/char.html

answered May 06 '11 at 06:14

Wavyx

1,625
2
14
23

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered May 06 '11 at 06:16

From the specs

Values in VARCHAR columns are variable-length strings. The length can be specified as a value from 0 to 65,535. The effective maximum length of a VARCHAR is subject to the maximum row size (65,535 bytes, which is shared among all columns) and the character set used.

What is the maximum range of varchar in MySQL?

3 Answers3

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