# ALTER TABLE CHANGE COLUMN
<a name="alter-table-change-column"></a>

Changes the name, type, order, or comment for a column in a table.

## Synopsis
<a name="alter-table-change-column-synopsis"></a>

```
ALTER TABLE [db_name.]table_name
  CHANGE [COLUMN] col_old_name col_new_name column_type 
  [COMMENT col_comment] [FIRST|AFTER column_name]
```

## Examples
<a name="alter-table-change-column-example"></a>

The following example changes the column name `area` to `zip`, makes the data type integer, and places the renamed column after the `id` column.

```
ALTER TABLE example_table CHANGE COLUMN area zip int AFTER id
```

The following example adds a comment to the `zip` column in the metadata for `example_table`. To see the comment, use the AWS CLI [https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/athena/get-table-metadata.html](https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/athena/get-table-metadata.html) command or visit the schema for the table in the AWS Glue console. 

```
ALTER TABLE example_table CHANGE COLUMN zip zip int COMMENT 'USA zipcode'
```