OFFSET for pagination in SQL - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - OFFSET for pagination

Start Query

↓

Apply ORDER BY

↓

Skip OFFSET rows

↓

Return LIMIT rows

↓

Display Results

↓

End

The query orders data, skips a number of rows using OFFSET, then returns a limited number of rows for pagination.

Execution Sample

SQL

SELECT name FROM employees ORDER BY id LIMIT 3 OFFSET 2;

This query gets 3 employee names, skipping the first 2 rows after ordering by id.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Rows Considered	Rows Skipped (OFFSET)	Rows Returned (LIMIT)	Output Rows
1	Start query execution	All employees (5 rows)	0	0	None yet
2	Order rows by id	All employees ordered by id	0	0	id=1,2,3,4,5
3	Skip OFFSET rows	Ordered rows	2	0	id=3,4,5 remain
4	Return LIMIT rows	Remaining rows after OFFSET	2	3	id=3,4,5
5	Display results	Final output	2	3	Names of employees with id 3,4,5
6	End	Query complete	2	3	3 rows returned

💡 OFFSET 2 skips first 2 rows; LIMIT 3 returns next 3 rows; query ends after returning these rows.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 4	Final
Rows Considered	5 unordered	5 ordered by id	3 after skipping 2	3 limited to 3	3 final rows
Output Rows	None	None	None	3 rows selected	3 rows displayed

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does OFFSET skip rows before LIMIT selects them?

OFFSET tells the database how many rows to skip first, then LIMIT picks how many rows to return from the remaining rows, as shown in execution_table rows 3 and 4.

What happens if OFFSET is larger than total rows?

No rows remain after skipping, so LIMIT returns zero rows. This is why OFFSET must be less than total rows to get results, seen in execution_table step 3.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, how many rows are returned after applying OFFSET and LIMIT?

A 2 rows

B 3 rows

C 5 rows

D 0 rows

💡 Hint

Check execution_table row 4 'Rows Returned (LIMIT)' column.

At which step does the query skip the first 2 rows?

A Step 2

B Step 4

C Step 3

D Step 5

💡 Hint

Look at execution_table row 3 'Action' column.

If LIMIT was changed to 2, how many rows would be returned after OFFSET?

A 2 rows

B 3 rows

C 5 rows

D 0 rows

💡 Hint

LIMIT controls how many rows are returned after OFFSET, see execution_table row 4.

Concept Snapshot

OFFSET skips a number of rows before returning results.
LIMIT sets how many rows to return.
Use ORDER BY to define row order.
Common for pagination: OFFSET = (page-1)*page_size.
Example: SELECT * FROM table ORDER BY id LIMIT 10 OFFSET 20;

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how SQL OFFSET works for pagination. The query orders all rows by id, then skips the first 2 rows using OFFSET 2. After skipping, it returns the next 3 rows using LIMIT 3. The execution table traces each step: starting with all rows, ordering them, skipping rows, then returning limited rows. Variables track how many rows remain after each step. Key moments clarify why OFFSET skips before LIMIT selects, and what happens if OFFSET is too large. The quiz tests understanding of rows skipped and returned at each step. OFFSET and LIMIT together help show pages of data in a controlled way.