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How do you interpret PostgreSQL `EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS)` query execution plans?

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Version 1 (Edit)

Edited by Gaurav Bhasin · Aug 24, 2026 7:15 AM

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How do you interpret PostgreSQL `EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS)` query execution plans?

Summary snapshot
Identifying index scans, bitmap heap scans, nested loop joins, and shared memory buffer hits.
Content snapshot
### Reading EXPLAIN Output - **Seq Scan**: PostgreSQL is reading every table page from disk (missing index). - **Index Scan**: Fast direct lookup using index tree. - **Shared Read**: Pages read from disk (slow); - **Shared Hit**: Pages retrieved from RAM buffer cache (fast).
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https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/using-explain.html

Version 1 (Original Post)

Published by Gaurav Bhasin · Aug 9, 2026 5:37 AM

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Original Title

How do you interpret PostgreSQL `EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS)` query execution plans?

Original Summary
Identifying index scans, bitmap heap scans, nested loop joins, and shared memory buffer hits.
Original Content
### Reading EXPLAIN Output - **Seq Scan**: PostgreSQL is reading every table page from disk (missing index). - **Index Scan**: Fast direct lookup using index tree. - **Shared Read**: Pages read from disk (slow); - **Shared Hit**: Pages retrieved from RAM buffer cache (fast).
Original Sources

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/using-explain.html