MySQL → PostgreSQL

Convert MySQL VARCHAR to PostgreSQL varchar

VARCHAR looks identical in both engines, but the units differ in spirit: both count characters, yet MySQL's row-size limits and index prefix rules disappear in PostgreSQL.

What to know

• VARCHAR(n) → varchar(n) — values and lengths carry over unchanged
• PostgreSQL has no 65,535-byte row limit, so very wide tables import fine
• Indexes need no (191) prefix hacks — full-column indexes always work
• utf8mb4 columns become plain UTF-8 text; collation differences can affect ORDER BY of mixed-language data

Before / after

CREATE TABLE users (
  email VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL UNIQUE
) CHARSET=utf8mb4;

CREATE TABLE users (
  email varchar(255) NOT NULL UNIQUE
);

See the full type mapping table or all guides.