quote_literal()

Returns the given string suitably quoted to be used as a string literal in an SQL statement string. Embedded single-quotes and backslashes are properly doubled. Note that quote_literal returns null on null input; if the argument might be null, quote_nullable is often more suitable. See also Example 41.1.

Signature

quote_literal ( text ) → text
quote_literal ( anyelement ) → text

Examples

SELECT quote_literal(E'O\'Reilly');

'O''Reilly'

SELECT quote_literal(42.5);

'42.5'

Run against PostgreSQL 18.6 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

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