---
title: ES|QL DROP command
description: 
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3016/reference/query-languages/esql/commands/drop
products:
  - Elasticsearch
---

# ES|QL DROP command
<applies-to>
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
</applies-to>

The `DROP` processing command removes one or more columns.

## Syntax

```esql
DROP columns
```


## Parameters

<definitions>
  <definition term="columns">
    A comma-separated list of columns to remove. Supports wildcards.
  </definition>
</definitions>


## Examples

The following examples show how to remove columns by name and by pattern.

### Drop a column by name

```esql
FROM employees
| DROP height
```


### Drop columns matching a wildcard pattern

Rather than specify each column by name, you can use wildcards to drop all
columns with a name that matches a pattern:
```esql
FROM employees
| DROP height*
```