How do I UPDATE from a SELECT in SQL Server?

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In SQL Server, it is possible to insert rows into a table with an INSERT.. SELECT statement:

INSERT INTO Table (col1, col2, col3)
SELECT col1, col2, col3 
FROM other_table 
WHERE sql = 'cool'

Is it also possible to update a table with SELECT? I have a temporary table containing the values and would like to update another table using those values. Perhaps something like this:

UPDATE Table SET col1, col2
SELECT col1, col2 
FROM other_table 
WHERE sql = 'cool'
WHERE Table.id = other_table.id
37 Answers
UPDATE
    Table_A
SET
    Table_A.col1 = Table_B.col1,
    Table_A.col2 = Table_B.col2
FROM
    Some_Table AS Table_A
    INNER JOIN Other_Table AS Table_B
        ON Table_A.id = Table_B.id
WHERE
    Table_A.col3 = 'cool'

One way

UPDATE t 
SET t.col1 = o.col1, 
    t.col2 = o.col2
FROM 
    other_table o 
  JOIN 
    t ON t.id = o.id
WHERE 
    o.sql = 'cool'

Consolidating all the different approaches here.

  1. Select update
  2. Update with a common table expression
  3. Merge

Sample table structure is below and will update from Product_BAK to Product table.

Table Product

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Product](
    [Id] [int] IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
    [Name] [nvarchar](100) NOT NULL,
    [Description] [nvarchar](100) NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]

Table Product_BAK

    CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Product_BAK](
        [Id] [int] IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
        [Name] [nvarchar](100) NOT NULL,
        [Description] [nvarchar](100) NULL
    ) ON [PRIMARY]

1. Select update

    update P1
    set Name = P2.Name
    from Product P1
    inner join Product_Bak P2 on p1.id = P2.id
    where p1.id = 2

2. Update with a common table expression

    ; With CTE as
    (
        select id, name from Product_Bak where id = 2
    )
    update P
    set Name = P2.name
    from  product P  inner join CTE P2 on P.id = P2.id
    where P2.id = 2

3. Merge

    Merge into product P1
    using Product_Bak P2 on P1.id = P2.id

    when matched then
    update set p1.[description] = p2.[description], p1.name = P2.Name;

In this Merge statement, we can do insert if not finding a matching record in the target, but exist in the source and please find syntax:

    Merge into product P1
    using Product_Bak P2 on P1.id = P2.id;

    when matched then
    update set p1.[description] = p2.[description], p1.name = P2.Name;

    WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN
    insert (name, description)
    values(p2.name, P2.description);

Option 1: Using Inner Join:

UPDATE
    A
SET
    A.col1 = B.col1,
    A.col2 = B.col2
FROM
    Some_Table AS A
    INNER JOIN Other_Table AS B
        ON A.id = B.id
WHERE
    A.col3 = 'cool'

Option 2: Co related Sub query

UPDATE table 
SET Col1 = B.Col1, 
    Col2 = B.Col2 
FROM (
    SELECT ID, Col1, Col2 
    FROM other_table) B
WHERE 
    B.ID = table.ID
UPDATE table1
SET column1 = (SELECT expression1
               FROM table2
               WHERE conditions)
[WHERE conditions];

The syntax for the UPDATE statement when updating one table with data from another table in SQL Server.

Important to point out, as others have, MySQL or MariaDB use a different syntax. Also it supports a very convenient USING syntax (in contrast to T/SQL). Also INNER JOIN is synonymous with JOIN. Therefor the query in the original question would be best implemented in MySQL thusly:

UPDATE
    Some_Table AS Table_A

JOIN
    Other_Table AS Table_B USING(id)

SET
    Table_A.col1 = Table_B.col1,
    Table_A.col2 = Table_B.col2

WHERE
    Table_A.col3 = 'cool'

I've not seen the a solution to the asked question in the other answers, hence my two cents. (tested on PHP 7.4.0 MariaDB 10.4.10)

You can use from this for update in SQL Server:

UPDATE
    T1
SET
   T1.col1 = T2.col1,
   T1.col2 = T2.col2
FROM
   Table1 AS T1
INNER JOIN Table2 AS T2
    ON T1.id = T2.id
WHERE
    T1.col3 = 'cool'
declare @tblStudent table (id int,name varchar(300))
declare @tblMarks table (std_id int,std_name varchar(300),subject varchar(50),marks int)

insert into @tblStudent Values (1,'Abdul')
insert into @tblStudent Values(2,'Rahim')

insert into @tblMarks Values(1,'','Math',50)
insert into @tblMarks Values(1,'','History',40)
insert into @tblMarks Values(2,'','Math',30)
insert into @tblMarks Values(2,'','history',80)


select * from @tblMarks

update m
set m.std_name=s.name
 from @tblMarks as m
left join @tblStudent as s on s.id=m.std_id

select * from @tblMarks

I was using INSERT SELECT before. For those who want to use new stuff here is a solution that works similarly, but it is much shorter:

UPDATE table1                                          // Table that's going to be updated.
LEFT JOIN                                              // Type of join.
    table2 AS tb2                                      // Second table and rename for easy.
ON
    tb2.filedToMatchTables = table1.fieldToMatchTables // Fields to connect both tables.
SET
    fieldFromTable1 = tb2.fieldFromTable2;             // Field to be updated on table1.

    field1FromTable1 = tb2.field1FromTable2,           // This is in the case you need to
    field1FromTable1 = tb2.field1FromTable2,           // update more than one field.
    field1FromTable1 = tb2.field1FromTable2;           // Remember to put ; at the end.

The same solution can be written in a slightly different way as I would like to set the columns only once. I have written about both the tables. It is working in MySQL.

UPDATE Table t,
(SELECT col1, col2 FROM other_table WHERE sql = 'cool' ) o
SET t.col1 = o.col1, t.col2=o.col2
WHERE t.id = o.id

Best practices Update rows and safe in SQL Server used in the company

 WITH t AS 
         (
           SELECT UserID, EmailAddress, Password, Gender, DOB, Location, 
           Active  FROM Facebook.Users
         )
 UPDATE t SET Active = 0

It is the safest way to update the records, and this is how you can see what we are going to update. Source: url

Like this; but you must be sure to update the table and table after from have be the same.

UPDATE Table SET col1, col2
FROM table
inner join other_table Table.id = other_table.id
WHERE sql = 'cool'

Oracle SQL (use an alias):

UPDATE Table T 
SET T.col1 = (SELECT OT.col1 WHERE OT.id = T.id),
T.col2 = (SELECT OT.col2 WHERE OT.id = T.id);
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