Last updated: 2026-08-03

Clone Database & Table

Quickly duplicate databases and tables for testing, development, or archiving. Clone with or without data, and choose which objects and constraints to include.

Clone Database

Create a copy of a database as a new database on the same or another connection (same engine only).

Clone a Database

1. Right-click the database in Object Explorer
2. Select Clone Database...
3. Enter a name for the new database
4. Select clone options
5. Click Clone

Database Clone Options

Requirements

• PostgreSQL requires pg_dump and pg_restore installed on the same machine where Jam SQL Studio is running (your computer). If tools are missing, the clone error dialog includes a How to fix button with install steps. If you installed the tools but Jam SQL Studio still can’t find them, configure the bin directory in Settings → Advanced → PostgreSQL Tools.
• MySQL/MariaDB requires mysqldump and mysql installed on the same machine where Jam SQL Studio is running (your computer). If tools are missing, the clone error dialog includes a How to fix button with install steps. After installing, make sure the tools are on your PATH and restart Jam SQL Studio.
• SQLite: Clone Database is not shown for SQLite connections. To duplicate a SQLite database, copy the .db/.sqlite file.

What Gets Cloned

A database clone includes:

• Tables - All tables with columns and data types
• Views - All view definitions
• Stored Procedures - All procedure code
• Functions - Scalar and table-valued functions
• Indexes - Primary keys, unique constraints, non-clustered indexes
• Foreign Keys - All relationship constraints
• Triggers - Table and database triggers
• Data (optional) - All table rows

Clone Table

Duplicate a single table within the same database or to a different database.

Clone a Table

1. Right-click the table in Object Explorer
2. Select Clone Table
3. Enter a name for the new table
4. Select the target database (same or different)
5. Choose what to include
6. Optionally click Preview Script to read the exact DDL that will run
7. Click Clone

Table Clone Options

Preview Script

Preview Script shows the DDL the clone will run — the CREATE TABLE plus every constraint and index statement your chosen options produce, in the order they execute. It reflects the current options, so unticking a box changes what you see. Copy it if you'd rather run or adapt the statements yourself.

Clone Progress

Monitor the clone operation as it runs.

The progress dialog shows:

• Current step - Which object is being copied
• Overall progress - Percentage complete
• Object counts - Tables, views, procedures cloned
• Data progress - Rows copied (when including data)
• Explorer refresh - Object Explorer refreshes once the cloned table exists so it appears without a manual refresh — including after a failed data copy, since the table is still there

If the data copy fails

A table clone creates the table first and copies rows second, and the clone never wraps the DDL in a transaction. So if the data copy fails, the new table is already on the server — on every engine, including the ones with transactional DDL. The progress dialog names it and says whether it is empty or holds partially copied rows, and Object Explorer lists it, so you can drop it before retrying the clone.

Use Cases

Development Environment

Clone production schema to create development databases:

1. Clone database with Schema Only option
2. Populate with test data separately
3. Developers get matching schema without production data

Testing Before Changes

Clone before making schema modifications:

1. Clone the database including data
2. Apply changes to the clone
3. Test thoroughly before applying to original

Table Archiving

Clone tables before cleanup or migration:

1. Clone table with data to create archive copy
2. Rename with date suffix (e.g., Orders_Archive_2024)
3. Proceed with original table modifications

Quick Backup

Clone for a fast same-server backup:

1. Clone database with full data
2. Faster than backup/restore for testing scenarios
3. Delete clone when no longer needed

Limitations

• Same engine only - Clone works between connections of the same engine (e.g., PostgreSQL → PostgreSQL). Cross-engine cloning is not supported.
• Server resources - Cloning large databases requires sufficient disk space and may impact server performance.
• Personal mode limits - In Personal mode, cloning with data is limited to databases ≤ 1 GB and tables ≤ 100,000 rows. Schema-only clone availability depends on the engine.
• Linked servers - Objects referencing linked servers may not work in the clone.
• Foreign keys to other databases - Cross-database FKs cannot be cloned.
• Sub-millisecond time precision - Cloning with data copies date/time values at millisecond precision. A column declared with more precision (for example MySQL DATETIME(6), SQL Server datetime2(7), Oracle TIMESTAMP(9)) keeps its declared type on the clone, but the copied values are rounded to milliseconds.
• Stored time-zone offsets - Values in offset-carrying columns (SQL Server datetimeoffset, Oracle TIMESTAMP WITH TIME ZONE) are copied as the same instant in UTC. The instant is preserved; the original offset that was stored alongside it is not.
• MySQL TIMESTAMP across two connections - MySQL converts TIMESTAMP using each session's time zone. Cloning a TIMESTAMP column into a different connection whose session time zone differs from the source's shifts those values by the difference between the two zones. Cloning within one connection is unaffected.

AUTO_INCREMENT on a cloned MySQL table

MySQL only accepts an AUTO_INCREMENT column when it is the first column of a key, and a table clone can only declare the primary key inline — unique constraints and indexes are added afterwards. So AUTO_INCREMENT is carried over when the column leads the cloned primary key, and the column is otherwise cloned as a plain one of the same type. That covers two cases:

• You cleared Include indexes and constraints, or its Primary key option, so the clone has no primary key to key the column with.
• The source keyed the column with a unique index rather than the primary key, or with a composite primary key that does not start with it.

The clone itself is valid and holds all the copied rows; re-add AUTO_INCREMENT with an ALTER TABLE … MODIFY if you need the clone to keep generating values.

Frequently asked questions