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up vote 828 down vote favorite
98

What command or short key can I use to exit the PostgreSQL command line utility psql? Here is the gist of the answers:

Type the following to exit the PostgreSQL command line utility psql:

\q + Enter

Press the following key combinations for Windows, Mac or Linux:

ctrl+D

For more command options type:

\? + Enter

share|improve this question
5  
@user272735: I agree. I cannot believe such a question gets any upvotes at all. I guess they are all not capable of reading a manual. – a_horse_with_no_name Jul 25 '12 at 16:15
114  
Sometimes we need quick and straight forward answer than searching it in the manual to focus on the real problem.In such cases these short questions are really helpful. – App Work Nov 16 '12 at 11:35
96  
The real question is not "are people capable of reading a manual", but "should enterprise software respond to standard exit sequences" like, I don't know, "exit"? Having to read the manual to quit seems seriously counter-intuitive. – Kheldar Feb 20 '14 at 14:39
13  
@Kheldar Indeed, it's just bad user interface design (coupled with arrogance). People are insecure about weird things. – Iain Collins Mar 10 '14 at 20:46
27  
more importantly, this post is now the first hit when i google "exit psql" – Angel S. Moreno Sep 2 '14 at 4:42
up vote 1190 down vote accepted

Type \q and then press ENTER to quit psql.

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9  
simple but useful. Thanks!! – Hoàng Long May 30 '12 at 8:00
144  
I can't believe I had to google to work that out :-) Thanks. – Dave Sag Jun 25 '13 at 1:29
6  
This won't work if you are in single user backend mode (--single). Instead use Kaarel's answer (Ctrl-D). In addition to always working in pgsql it'll work in most your other unix shells (python, mysql, etc). If you always do things the "standard" way in 'nix your brain will be less cluttered with trivia. – hobs Nov 7 '13 at 22:10
1  
yes, very simple solution. I guessed \quite, \exit but none of them worked, finally got solution after googeling. Thanks :) – Ravi Dhoriya ツ May 15 '14 at 10:28
4  
I was going to upvote @DaveSag - but then I thought, why can we not use "quit" or "exit" like a normal sql program? – nycynik Jun 19 '14 at 21:53
up vote 253 down vote

My usual key sequence is:

quit()
quit
exit()
exit
q
q()
!q
^C
help
Alt + Tab
google.com
Quit PSQL
\q

I think veterans of the psql command line usually shorten that to just:

\q
share|improve this answer
1  
That's usually what I do too – Jehan Jul 18 '14 at 22:44
9  
ROFL!!!!, @ted you must be a system admin. – Angel S. Moreno Sep 2 '14 at 4:44
16  
thats pretty much how I got here, glad to know I'm doing it right. – brent.payne Nov 4 '14 at 17:37
    
This is pretty much how my psql console looks now, right down to the help command and VIM syntax! – dotancohen Dec 10 '14 at 17:47
3  
This just shows how arrogant the PostgreSQL developers have been. Really, \q? What's wrong with exit or Ctrl+C? – Dan Dascalescu Sep 23 '15 at 1:36
up vote 142 down vote

Ctrl+D is what I usually use to exit psql console.

share|improve this answer
    
Thanks, very useful short key. – App Work Aug 26 '12 at 7:14
24  
This works on almost all prompts, people! – dbkaplun Jun 28 '13 at 17:27
    
Yep. This also works in bash, sh, ssh, zsh, irb, pry, python, sudo su, node, and more. It is the standard way to exit a shell of any kind. – Ajedi32 Jul 10 '15 at 19:46
2  
Not just a shell. Any reasonably sane program which reads from stdin and interprets the empty string as EOF will accept ^D. – Kevin Aug 20 '15 at 20:37
up vote 52 down vote

And for all kinds of similar questions: Use \? in psql for help.

Or read about psql meta commands in the excellent manual.

share|improve this answer
3  
Though this isn't a direct answer, this is quite helpful! Thanks :D – JAnderton Jul 24 '13 at 7:49
4  
Excellent UI doesn't need an excellent manual. – ahnbizcad Jan 31 '15 at 2:31
3  
Every program that is sufficiently complex needs a good manual, especially command-line interfaces. – Erwin Brandstetter Apr 15 '15 at 19:11
    
@ErwinBrandstetter: No. This answer shows just how inane existing psql is. Do you see the same question for how to exit mongo? No, because that one is sane. – Dan Dascalescu Sep 23 '15 at 1:37
up vote 4 down vote

For Linux command line \q + enter.

Quiting with Ctrl + D also is works

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up vote 1 down vote

I learned that I could include \q in a batch .sql file, so I could have psql quit earlier from an \i operation.

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protected by Erwin Brandstetter Sep 18 '14 at 22:48

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