How to auto repair a MySQL database table using a command

Updated: 11 October 2026 · Applies to: MariaDB 10.6 to 11.4 and MySQL 8

mysqlcheck checks, repairs, optimizes and analyzes tables while the database server is running. You can use it on one table, one database or all databases.

Examples

mysqlcheck -c shopdb orders      # check one table
mysqlcheck -r shopdb orders      # repair one table (MyISAM/Aria)
mysqlcheck -o shopdb             # optimize every table in a database
mysqlcheck -a shopdb             # update index statistics (analyze)
mysqlcheck --all-databases --auto-repair   # check all, repair only when needed

Add -u USER -p if you are not using the root account's saved credentials (on cPanel servers, root's ~/.my.cnf is used automatically).

Note: Optimize and repair lock tables while they run. InnoDB tables do not support repair; for those, "optimize" rebuilds the table.