How to Use Limit in MongoDB: Syntax and Examples

In MongoDB, use the limit() method to restrict the number of documents returned by a query. It takes a single number argument specifying the maximum results to return. For example, db.collection.find().limit(5) returns only 5 documents.

Syntax

The limit() method is used after a find() query to specify the maximum number of documents to return.

• db.collection.find(query).limit(number)
• query is optional and filters documents.
• number is the maximum count of documents to return.

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db.collection.find().limit(10)

Example

This example shows how to get only 3 documents from the users collection.

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db.users.find().limit(3)

Output

[
  { "_id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 25 },
  { "_id": 2, "name": "Bob", "age": 30 },
  { "_id": 3, "name": "Charlie", "age": 22 }
]

Common Pitfalls

One common mistake is forgetting to use limit() after find(), which returns all documents instead of a limited number.

Another is passing a non-integer or negative number to limit(), which will cause an error or unexpected results.

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/* Wrong: limit used before find */
db.collection.limit(5).find()  

/* Correct: limit used after find */
db.collection.find().limit(5)

Quick Reference

Method	Description	Example
find()	Fetches documents from a collection	db.collection.find({ age: { $gt: 20 } })
limit(n)	Limits the number of documents returned to n	db.collection.find().limit(5)
skip(n)	Skips the first n documents	db.collection.find().skip(10)
sort()	Sorts documents by a field	db.collection.find().sort({ age: 1 })

Key Takeaways

Use limit(n) after find() to restrict query results to n documents.

The argument to limit() must be a positive integer.

Without limit(), queries return all matching documents.

Always chain limit() after find(), not before.

Combine limit() with skip() and sort() for effective pagination.