Reorder / reset auto increment primary key

Question

I have a MySQL table with an auto increment primary key. I deleted some rows in the middle of the table. Now I have, for example, something like this in the ID column: 12, 1

Answer 1

The best choice is to alter the column and remove the auto_increment attribute. Then issue another alter statement and put auto_increment back onto the column. This will reset the count to the max+1 of the current rows and thus preserve foreign key references back to this table, from other tables in your database, or any other key usage for that column.