How to fix ERROR 1050: Table already exists in MySQL

First, verify whether the table actually exists in your database. Run:

SHOW TABLES LIKE 'your_table_name';

If the table is listed, it means a table with that name already exists. If nothing is returned, the table does not exist and the error may be due to metadata corruption.

The simplest and most recommended solution is to modify your CREATE TABLE statement to include the IF NOT EXISTS clause. This makes the statement idempotent—it can run multiple times safely:

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
  email VARCHAR(255),
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

With this syntax, MySQL will create the table only if it doesn't already exist, and silently skip it if it does.

If you want to recreate the table from scratch, first drop the existing one (use caution—this deletes all data):

DROP TABLE users;

Then run your CREATE TABLE statement. Alternatively, use:

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS users;
CREATE TABLE users (
  id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
  email VARCHAR(255)
);

This approach is safe because the DROP will only execute if the table exists.

In rare cases, a MySQL view might have the same name as the table you're trying to create. List all views in the database:

SHOW FULL TABLES IN your_database WHERE Table_type = 'VIEW';

If you find a view with the same name, either drop the view or rename your table:

DROP VIEW view_name;

When restoring a MySQL database from a backup (using mysqldump), ensure tables don't already exist in the target database. Either:

1. Drop the entire database and recreate it:

DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS your_database;
CREATE DATABASE your_database;

Then restore:

mysql -u username -p your_database < backup.sql

2. Or edit the backup file to add IF NOT EXISTS to all CREATE TABLE statements before importing.