Counting MySQL Rows in PHP

The removed mysql_num_rows() function returned the number of rows in a legacy result resource. In current code, choose the counting method based on what you actually need.

Historical mysql_num_rows()

<?php
// Historical only: removed from PHP 7+
$query = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM student');
$number = mysql_num_rows($query);
?>

Best choice when you only need the total: COUNT(*)

SELECT COUNT(*) AS total
FROM student;

<?php
$total = $dbo->query(
    'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM student'
)->fetchColumn();

echo 'Total records = ' . $total;
?>

Counting filtered rows safely

<?php
$stmt = $dbo->prepare(
    'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM student WHERE class = :class'
);
$stmt->execute(['class' => 'Four']);
$total = (int) $stmt->fetchColumn();
?>

MySQLi result row count

<?php
$result = $connection->query(
    'SELECT id, name FROM student'
);
echo $result->num_rows;
?>

Related: SQL COUNT(), SELECT, WHERE filtering, affected rows after data changes, and result column count.

For application-level examples, see PDO row-count notes, MySQLi num_rows, and PHP pagination. Row counts are also commonly needed after INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE, but those data-change operations use affected-row semantics rather than SELECT result-row counting.

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Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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