mysql> use secret_info Reading table information for completion of table and column names You can turn off this feature to get a quicker startup with -A Database changed mysql> show tables; +-----------------------+ | Tables_in_secret_info | +-----------------------+ | private_info | +-----------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select * from private_info; +--------------------+------------------+-----------+ | name | creditnum | ssn | +--------------------+------------------+-----------+ | John Greene | 5678897800776689 | 897008976 | | Stacy Dash | 2341897812436900 | 234568765 | | Robert Johnson | 0098897815636120 | 324545765 | | Jennifer Smithison | 1234897815639980 | 789340021 | +--------------------+------------------+-----------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec)