---
title: "Postgres Scan Types in EXPLAIN Plans"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/postgres-scan-types-in-explain-plans-xgyzmaukf
source_url: https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/postgres-scan-types-in-explain-plans
type: article
source: "Crunchy Data"
published: 2025-12-04T17:21:46.905Z
updated: 2025-12-04T17:22:11.028Z
tags: ["database", "sql", "postgresql"]
reading_time: 9
upvotes: 10
comments: 0
language: en
---

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# Postgres Scan Types in EXPLAIN Plans

**[Crunchy Data](https://daily.dev/sources/crunchydata)** · 9 min read · 10 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Explains the different scan types that appear in Postgres EXPLAIN plans and when each is used. Covers sequential scans (reading entire tables row-by-row), index scans (using B-tree indexes to locate data), bitmap index scans (hybrid approach creating in-memory bitmaps), parallel scans (using multiple workers concurrently), and index-only scans (retrieving all data from the index without touching the main table). Includes practical examples showing when each scan type is optimal and how to identify them in query plans.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.crunchydata.com/blog/postgres-scan-types-in-explain-plans>

---

Tags: [#database](https://daily.dev/tags/database), [#sql](https://daily.dev/tags/sql), [#postgresql](https://daily.dev/tags/postgresql)

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