## Name

DROP ACCESS METHOD — remove an access method

## Synopsis

    DROP ACCESS METHOD [ IF EXISTS ] name [ CASCADE | RESTRICT ]

## Description

`DROP ACCESS METHOD` removes an existing access method. Only superusers can drop access methods.

## Parameters

`IF EXISTS`

  Do not throw an error if the access method does not exist. A notice is issued in this case.

`name`

  The name of an existing access method.

`CASCADE`

  Automatically drop objects that depend on the access method (such as operator classes, operator families, and indexes), and in turn all objects that depend on those objects (see Section 5.13, “Dependency Tracking”).

`RESTRICT`

  Refuse to drop the access method if any objects depend on it. This is the default.

## Examples

Drop the access method `heptree`:

    DROP ACCESS METHOD heptree;

## Compatibility

`DROP ACCESS METHOD` is a Postgres Pro extension.

## See Also

CREATE ACCESS METHOD