How to grant user access to a database in MySQL command line?

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: MariaDB 10.6 to 11.4 and MySQL 8

On a VPS or dedicated server, grant a user access to a database from the MySQL/MariaDB command line.

Steps

1. Open the client as root: mysql (or mysql -u root -p).
2. Create the user if it does not exist:

   CREATE USER 'appuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'Strong-Password';

3. Grant privileges on the database:

   GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON shopdb.* TO 'appuser'@'localhost';

4. Check:

   SHOW GRANTS FOR 'appuser'@'localhost';

Note the quotes: the database name is written without quotes (or with backticks, `shopdb`.*), while the user and host are in single quotes.

Tip: Grant only what the application needs, for example SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, for read-and-write access without the right to change tables. On cPanel accounts, use Databases › Manage My Databases instead, so cPanel keeps track of the user.