GUID Database Performance & Indexing Guide
Complete guide to GUID database performance, B-tree index behavior, fragmentation, storage optimization and database-specific considerations.
How to Generate UUIDs in MySQL
Generate UUID values in MySQL with UUID(), validate text with IS_UUID(), and store compact binary values with UUID_TO_BIN() and BIN_TO_UUID().
Important: MySQL
UUID() generates UUID v1 values. If you need UUID v4 or UUID v7 semantics, generate them in the application layer and store them in MySQL.How to generate UUID values in MySQL
SELECT UUID() AS uuid_value;According to the MySQL reference manual, UUID() returns a UUID version 1 value.
How to store UUIDs efficiently in MySQL
CREATE TABLE orders (
id BINARY(16) PRIMARY KEY,
description VARCHAR(200) NOT NULL
);
INSERT INTO orders (id, description)
VALUES (UUID_TO_BIN(UUID()), 'first order');
SELECT BIN_TO_UUID(id) AS id, description
FROM orders;Use BINARY(16) for compact storage. UUID_TO_BIN() and BIN_TO_UUID() handle the string-to-binary round trip.
Native support notes
- MySQL does not expose a dedicated UUID column type.
UUID()returns UUID v1 values.UUID_TO_BIN()andBIN_TO_UUID()are the standard conversion helpers.UUID_TO_BIN(uuid, 1)only helps with time-part swapping for UUID v1 layouts.
Practical notes
- Use
BINARY(16)instead ofCHAR(36)when you care about storage and index size. - If you need UUID v4 or UUID v7, generate them in app code and store them as binary.
- Read database performance guidance before using random UUIDs as clustered keys in InnoDB.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not with built-in generation functions in current MySQL documentation. Native generation is
UUID(), which returns UUID v1 values.Usually no.
BINARY(16) is smaller and indexes better than storing CHAR(36) or VARCHAR(36) UUID strings.Learn more
These articles expand on related concepts, formats and practical considerations.