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21st June, 2026

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PHP CRUD Operations with MySQL: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction
CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) is the foundation of almost every web application. Whether you're building a blog, e-commerce site, or inventory system, understanding CRUD operations in PHP with MySQL is essential. This tutorial walks you through building a complete CRUD application step by step.

Prerequisites

PHP 7.4+ installed
MySQL/MariaDB database
Basic understanding of HTML and PHP
A code editor (VS Code, Sublime, etc.)

Step 1: Database Setup

First, create your database and table:

CREATE DATABASE crud_app;
USE crud_app;

CREATE TABLE users (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(150) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
    phone VARCHAR(20),
    created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

Step 2: Database Connection (db.php)

Create a reusable connection file:

<?php
$host = 'localhost';
$dbname = 'crud_app';
$username = 'root';
$password = '';

try {
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=$host;dbname=$dbname;charset=utf8", $username, $password);
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE, PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage());
}
?>

Why PDO? PDO supports multiple databases, prepared statements (security against SQL injection), and provides a consistent API.

Step 3: Create – Insert Records (create.php)

<?php
include 'db.php';

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    $name = trim($_POST['name']);
    $email = trim($_POST['email']);
    $phone = trim($_POST['phone']);
    
    $errors = [];
    
    if (empty($name)) $errors[] = "Name is required";
    if (empty($email) || !filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) $errors[] = "Valid email is required";
    
    if (empty($errors)) {
        $stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email, phone) VALUES (:name, :email, :phone)");
        $stmt->execute(['name' => $name, 'email' => $email, 'phone' => $phone]);
        header("Location: index.php?msg=created");
        exit;
    }
}
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Create User</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body class="container mt-5">
    <h2>Add New User</h2>
    <?php if (!empty($errors)): ?>
        <div class="alert alert-danger">
            <?php foreach ($errors as $error) echo "<p>$error</p>"; ?>
        </div>
    <?php endif; ?>
    <form method="POST">
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Name</label>
            <input type="text" name="name" class="form-control" required>
        </div>
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Email</label>
            <input type="email" name="email" class="form-control" required>
        </div>
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Phone</label>
            <input type="text" name="phone" class="form-control">
        </div>
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Save</button>
        <a href="index.php" class="btn btn-secondary">Cancel</a>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Step 4: Read – Display Records (index.php)

<?php
include 'db.php';

$stmt = $pdo->query("SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY id DESC");
$users = $stmt->fetchAll();
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>User Management</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body class="container mt-5">
    <h2>User List</h2>
    
    <?php if (isset($_GET['msg']) && $_GET['msg'] == 'created'): ?>
        <div class="alert alert-success">User created successfully!</div>
    <?php endif; ?>
    <?php if (isset($_GET['msg']) && $_GET['msg'] == 'updated'): ?>
        <div class="alert alert-success">User updated successfully!</div>
    <?php endif; ?>
    <?php if (isset($_GET['msg']) && $_GET['msg'] == 'deleted'): ?>
        <div class="alert alert-success">User deleted successfully!</div>
    <?php endif; ?>
    
    <a href="create.php" class="btn btn-success mb-3">Add New User</a>
    
    <table class="table table-bordered table-striped">
        <thead class="table-dark">
            <tr>
                <th>ID</th>
                <th>Name</th>
                <th>Email</th>
                <th>Phone</th>
                <th>Created</th>
                <th>Actions</th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
            <?php foreach ($users as $user): ?>
            <tr>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($user['id']) ?></td>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($user['name']) ?></td>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($user['email']) ?></td>
                <td><?= htmlspecialchars($user['phone']) ?></td>
                <td><?= $user['created_at'] ?></td>
                <td>
                    <a href="edit.php?id=<?= $user['id'] ?>" class="btn btn-warning btn-sm">Edit</a>
                    <a href="delete.php?id=<?= $user['id'] ?>" 
                       class="btn btn-danger btn-sm" 
                       onclick="return confirm('Are you sure?')">Delete</a>
                </td>
            </tr>
            <?php endforeach; ?>
            <?php if (empty($users)): ?>
            <tr><td colspan="6" class="text-center">No users found</td></tr>
            <?php endif; ?>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</body>
</html>

Step 5: Update – Edit Records (edit.php)

<?php
include 'db.php';

$id = $_GET['id'] ?? null;
if (!$id) { header("Location: index.php"); exit; }

// Fetch existing user data
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id");
$stmt->execute(['id' => $id]);
$user = $stmt->fetch();

if (!$user) { header("Location: index.php"); exit; }

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
    $name = trim($_POST['name']);
    $email = trim($_POST['email']);
    $phone = trim($_POST['phone']);
    
    $stmt = $pdo->prepare("UPDATE users SET name = :name, email = :email, phone = :phone WHERE id = :id");
    $stmt->execute(['name' => $name, 'email' => $email, 'phone' => $phone, 'id' => $id]);
    header("Location: index.php?msg=updated");
    exit;
}
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Edit User</title>
    <link href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">
</head>
<body class="container mt-5">
    <h2>Edit User</h2>
    <form method="POST">
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Name</label>
            <input type="text" name="name" class="form-control" 
                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($user['name']) ?>" required>
        </div>
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Email</label>
            <input type="email" name="email" class="form-control" 
                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($user['email']) ?>" required>
        </div>
        <div class="mb-3">
            <label>Phone</label>
            <input type="text" name="phone" class="form-control" 
                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($user['phone']) ?>">
        </div>
        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Update</button>
        <a href="index.php" class="btn btn-secondary">Cancel</a>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Step 6: Delete – Remove Records (delete.php)

<?php
include 'db.php';

$id = $_GET['id'] ?? null;

if ($id) {
    $stmt = $pdo->prepare("DELETE FROM users WHERE id = :id");
    $stmt->execute(['id' => $id]);
}

header("Location: index.php?msg=deleted");
exit;

Conclusion

You've built a complete CRUD application! This foundation can be extended with:

Search and filtering
Pagination for large datasets
AJAX for seamless operations
User authentication

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