---
title: Upsert in PostgreSQL Using ON CONFLICT
description: If you need update a row in PostgreSQL if it already exists OR create a new row if it doesn't already exist, using the ON CONFLICT command will do it
date: 2020-02-19
tags: PostgreSQL, Databases, Querying
source: https://brianchildress.co/blog/upsert-in-postgres-with-on-conflct
---

# Upsert in PostgreSQL Using ON CONFLICT

If you're using Postgres and need to make an update to a row OR create a new row if one doesn't exist, new versions of PostgreSQL make this a lot easier. In other databases this concept is usually referred to as `upsert` which is short for _update / insert_. Let's see a full example, then we'll break it down by sections.

```sql
INSERT INTO users
VALUES ('marcus','adams', 'm.adams@email.com')
ON CONFLICT (email_address)
DO UPDATE SET last_updated = Date.now()
```

### The breakdown

```sql
INSERT INTO users
VALUES ('marcus','adams', 'm.adams@email.com')
```

This is a normal insert statement, we're inserting _values_ into a table called _users_. **Always, always, always sanitize input before sending it to your database.**

```sql
ON CONFLICT (email_address)
DO UPDATE SET last_updated = Date.now()
```

_ON CONFLICT_, introduced in [Postgres 9.5](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.5/release-9-5.html), is the Postgres implementation of _Upsert_. Here we're evaluating if there is another row with an equal value to a constraint called `email_address`. If there's a conflict we're simply updated the `last_updated` field with the current timestamp.