SQL OFFSET

What is OFFSET?

OFFSET skips a specified number of rows before returning results.

It is commonly used with LIMIT for pagination.

Basic Syntax

SELECT *
FROM table_name
LIMIT number
OFFSET number;

Example

SELECT *
FROM employees
LIMIT 5 OFFSET 5;

Pagination Example

-- Page 1
SELECT * FROM employees LIMIT 5 OFFSET 0;

-- Page 2
SELECT * FROM employees LIMIT 5 OFFSET 5;

-- Page 3
SELECT * FROM employees LIMIT 5 OFFSET 10;

Using with ORDER BY

SELECT *
FROM employees
ORDER BY salary
LIMIT 5 OFFSET 5;

Full Example

SELECT name, salary
FROM employees
ORDER BY salary DESC
LIMIT 10 OFFSET 20;

Why OFFSET is Important

Supports pagination
Loads data in chunks
Improves performance
Used in APIs and web apps

Common Mistakes

Not using ORDER BY
Using very large OFFSET values
Confusing OFFSET with LIMIT

Practice

Return the second page of results using LIMIT and OFFSET.

SELECT *
FROM table_name
ORDER BY column_name
LIMIT 5 OFFSET 5;

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