How to fix ERROR 1142: Command denied to user for table in MySQL

First, identify what privileges your current user has. Connect to MySQL and run:

SHOW GRANTS;

This will display all grants for your current user. If you need to check another user's permissions:

SHOW GRANTS FOR 'username'@'hostname';

Look for the specific table in question. If there's no GRANT statement mentioning that table, that's the problem.

As a MySQL admin (root user or user with GRANT privilege), grant the necessary permissions. For a specific table:

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON database_name.table_name TO 'username'@'hostname';

For all tables in a database:

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON database_name.* TO 'username'@'hostname';

If you only need SELECT (read-only access):

GRANT SELECT ON database_name.table_name TO 'username'@'hostname';

Replace:
- username with the actual MySQL username
- hostname with the host from which the user connects (use % to allow from any host: 'username'@'%')
- database_name and table_name with actual names

After running GRANT, execute:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

This clears MySQL's in-memory privilege cache, forcing it to reload from the privilege tables. Without this, changes may not take effect immediately (especially after GRANT statements that directly update privilege tables).

Note: When using GRANT or REVOKE directly, privilege tables are updated automatically, but flushing ensures all connections see the changes.

Test that the command now works. If you're fixing permissions for another user, you can switch to that user:

-- Check the user's new grants
SHOW GRANTS FOR 'username'@'hostname';

Then try executing the problematic command. If you're using an application, reconnect to trigger a new database connection.