In MySQL, you can specify the character set and collation at various levels. You can specify them at the connection level, the server level, the database level, the table level, and the column level. You can also specify a collation in your queries so that it overrides any collation that has been previously specified at the aforementioned levels.

To set the character set and collation at the database level, you can use the CREATE DATABASE statement or ALTER DATABASE statement (depending on whether you’re creating the database or modifying it).

Set the Character Set and Collation

To set the character set and collation when you first create a database, use the CHARACTER SET and COLLATE clauses of the CREATE DATABASE statement:

CREATE DATABASE Solutions
CHARACTER SET latin1
COLLATE latin1_german1_ci;

This example sets the character set to latin1 and the collation to latin1_german1_ci.

Change the Character Set and Collation

To change the character set and collation of an existing database, use the CHARACTER SET and COLLATE clauses of the ALTER DATABASE statement:

ALTER DATABASE Solutions
CHARACTER SET hebrew
COLLATE hebrew_general_ci;

This example changes the character set to hebrew and the collation to hebrew_general_ci.

Check the Character Set and Collation

In MySQL Workbench, you can check a database’s default collation by right-clicking the database and selecting Schema Inspector.

There are also several ways to check the collation using SQL.