BigQuery SQL Cheats Cheat Sheet

Last Updated: November 21, 2025

Focus Areas

Focus
`Filter partitions or use date-based tables to reduce bytes scanned`
`Cluster on selective columns for better query performance`


         SELECT * FROM dataset.table WHERE _PARTITIONTIME = DATE_SUB(CURRENT_DATE(), INTERVAL 1 DAY)

Partition filter


         CREATE TABLE dataset.table PARTITION BY DATE(event_date)

Create partitioned table


         SELECT APPROX_TOP_COUNT(user_id, 10) FROM dataset.table

Approximate aggregates

Guard budgets with partition filters, clustering, and approximate functions.

💡 Pro Tip: Filter by `_PARTITIONTIME` and cluster on selective columns.