# lower

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [cloud-data-platform-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform-full.txt)

---
title: lower
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.1.9
docname: sql/sql-functions/string-functions/lower
page-component-name: cloud-data-platform
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Cloud
page-relative-src-path: sql/sql-functions/string-functions/lower.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/cloud-docs/edit/main/modules/reference/pages/sql/sql-functions/string-functions/lower.adoc
description: The `lower()` function returns a given string, an expression, or values in a column in all lowercase letters.
page-topic-type: reference
page-git-created-date: "2026-05-26"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-05-26"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/reference/sql/sql-functions/string-functions/lower.md -->

The `lower()` function returns a given string, an expression, or values in a column in all lowercase letters. The syntax of the function is:

```sql
LOWER(string)
```

It accepts input as a string and returns the text in the lowercase alphabet.

**Special Cases:** If there are characters in the input which are not of type string, they remain unaffected by the \`lower()\`function.

> 📝 **NOTE**
>
> Unicode is supported so that the ß is equivalent to the string ss.

## [](#examples)Examples

### [](#basic-lower-function)Basic `lower()` function

This basic query shows how to convert the given string in all lowercase alphabets:

```sql
SELECT LOWER('PostGreSQL');
```

The query returns:

```sql
+------------+
| lower      |
+------------+
| postgresql |
+------------+
```

### [](#lower-function-using-columns)`lower()` function using columns

This example shows how the `lower()` function works with columns. The **personal\_details** table contains columns **id**, **first\_name**, **last\_name**, and **gender** of retail store employees.

```sql
CREATE TABLE personal_details (
  id int,
  first_name text,
  last_name text,
  gender text
);
INSERT INTO personal_details
    (id, first_name, last_name, gender)
VALUES
    (1,'Mark','Wheeler','M'),
    (2,'Tom','Hanks','M'),
    (3,'Jane','Hopper','F'),
    (4,'Emily','Byers','F'),
    (5,'Lucas','Sinclair','M');
```

```sql
SELECT * FROM personal_details;
```

This query shows the table:

```sql
+-----+-------------+-------------+----------+
| id  | first_name  | last_name   | gender   |
+-----+-------------+-------------+----------+
| 1   | Mark        | Wheeler     | M        |
| 2   | Tom         | Hanks       | M        |
| 3   | Jane        | Hopper      | F        |
| 4   | Emily       | Byers       | F        |
| 5   | Lucas       | Sinclair    | M        |
+-----+-------------+-------------+----------+
```

Assume that the goal is to convert the first and last names of employees with **id** numbers 2, 4, and 5 to all lowercase letters:

```sql
SELECT first_name,last_name,LOWER(first_name),LOWER(last_name)
FROM personal_details
where id in (2, 4, 5);
```

The output displays the first and last names of employees with the specified ids in lowercase letters:

```sql
+------------+-------------+----------+----------+
| first_name | last_name   | lower    | lower    |
+------------+-------------+----------+----------+
| Tom        | Hanks       | tom      | hanks    |
| Emily      | Byers       | emily    | byers    |
| Lucas      | Sinclair    | lucas    | sinclair |
+------------+-------------+----------+----------+
```