PostgreSQL psql Commands Cheat Sheet — CLI Navigation & Queries

Essential psql terminal meta-commands (\l, \c, \dt, \d+), query execution plan inspection, backups (pg_dump), and database maintenance.

Terminal Meta-Commands

\l

List all databases hosted on the PostgreSQL server instance

\c <database_name>

Connect / switch to a different database

\dt

List all tables in the current active schema

\d+ <table_name>

Describe table schema, columns, data types, indexes, and foreign keys

\x

Toggle expanded display mode (formats rows vertically like a card for wide tables)

\q

Quit / exit the psql command line client

pg_dump -U postgres -d mydb -F c -b -v -f backup.dump

Create high-speed compressed custom-format database backup

pg_restore -U postgres -d mydb -v backup.dump

Restore database from compressed pg_dump file

EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) SELECT * FROM orders;

Profile real query execution time, disk reads, and index scans