Get rid of default annoyances in MySQL Workbench

By default, if you make any changes to table rows, there is an annoying 2-step confirmation dialog when you click Apply. It also prevents you from doing many mass UPDATEs and DELETEs (this is called ‘Safe Updates’).

Safe Updates is a good idea in principle, since it stops you from running a DELETE without a WHERE clause, for example. But at the same time it prevents you from running an UPDATE/DELETE with a WHERE based on a column other than an ID, which I find myself doing sometimes.

To turn off these options:

1. In the menu, go to Edit > Preferences…
2. Click on the ‘SQL Queries’ tab
3. In the ‘General’ section, uncheck ‘Safe Updates’
4. In the ‘Query Results’ section, uncheck ‘Confirm Data Changes’

These instructions are for version 5.2.47.