# Varchar

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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Varchar.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varchar
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Set of character data in a database

A **VARCHAR** or **variable character field** is a set of [character](/source/Character_(computing)) [data](/source/Data) of indeterminate length. The term *varchar* refers to a data type of a field (or [column](/source/Column_(database))) in a [database](/source/Database_management_system) which can hold letters and numbers.[1] Varchar fields can be of any size up to a limit, which varies by databases: an [Oracle 11g](/source/Oracle_database) database has a limit of 4000 bytes,[2] a [MySQL 5.7](/source/MySQL) database has a limit of 65,535 bytes (for the entire row)[3] and [Microsoft SQL Server 2008](/source/Microsoft_SQL_Server) has a limit of 8000 bytes (unless varchar(max) is used, which has a maximum storage capacity of 2 gigabytes).[4]

nvarchar is a variation of varchar,[5] and which is more suitable depends on the [use case](/source/Use_case).[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*]

## See also

- [SQL data types](/source/SQL_data_types)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The VARCHAR data type"](https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/informix-servers/12.10.0?topic=ocdt-varchar-data-type). *www.ibm.com*. 2018-10-25. Retrieved 2025-11-25.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Database Concepts"](https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B28359_01/server.111/b28318/datatype.htm#i1835). *docs.oracle.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["MySQL :: MySQL 5.7 Reference Manual :: 11.4.1 The CHAR and VARCHAR Types"](https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/char.html). *dev.mysql.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** edmacauley (6 June 2024). ["char and varchar (Transact-SQL)"](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176089.aspx). *msdn.microsoft.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [SQL Server differences of char, nchar, varchar and nvarchar data types](https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/4322/sql-server-differences-of-char-nchar-varchar-and-nvarchar-data-types/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Varchar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varchar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varchar?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.