← Back to Django Course | Chapter 4: Models & Django ORM Basics | Lesson 5 of 10

Querying with objects.all()

objects.all() asks Django to open the filing cabinet drawer for one model and hand you every single card inside it.

In this page:

  1. Fetching Every Row
  2. QuerySets Are Lazy
  3. Counting Results
Syntax
markup 
queryset = ModelName.objects.all()

for obj in queryset:
    # use obj.field_name

Fetching Every Row

Model.objects.all() returns a QuerySet representing every row in that model's table, in the order the database returns them (or Meta.ordering if set).

Example: Fetching Every Row

Model.objects.all() returns a QuerySet representing every row in that model's table, in the order the database returns them (or Meta.ordering if set).

bash 
books = Book.objects.all()
for book in books:
    print(book.title)

⚠️ Run this in your own terminal or Node.js environment.

QuerySets Are Lazy

Calling .all() doesn't hit the database right away. Django only runs the actual SQL query the moment you iterate over the QuerySet, print it, or convert it to a list.

Note: This laziness lets you keep chaining filters before the query actually executes.

Example: QuerySets Are Lazy

Calling .all() doesn't hit the database right away. Django only runs the actual SQL query the moment you iterate over the QuerySet, print it, or convert it to a list.

bash 
qs = Book.objects.all()
print('query not run yet')
for book in qs:
    print(book.title)

⚠️ Run this in your own terminal or Node.js environment.

Counting Results

Calling .count() on a QuerySet asks the database to count rows directly, which is faster than fetching every row just to measure len().

Example: Counting Results

Calling .count() on a QuerySet asks the database to count rows directly, which is faster than fetching every row just to measure len().

bash 
total = Book.objects.all().count()
print(total)

⚠️ Run this in your own terminal or Node.js environment.

Related Topics

Related Objects with ForeignKey · Creating Model Instances · Filtering QuerySets · Common Model Field Types

{# common_mistakes/chapter_summary/browser_support: on Hindi pages the view already swaps in the hi_ translation fields (or blanks these out if untranslated), so this renders correctly for both languages without a lang_code check here. #}
Common Mistakes
  1. Calling list(Model.objects.all()) unnecessarily, forgetting that a QuerySet is already iterable on its own.
  2. Assuming Model.objects.all() returns the results immediately, when it's actually lazy and only hits the database once you iterate or evaluate it.
  3. Looping over a large objects.all() result just to filter it in Python, instead of filtering in the database with .filter().
Chapter Summary
  • Model.objects.all() returns a QuerySet containing every row currently in that model's table.
  • QuerySets are lazy — the database query only runs when the results are actually used.
  • You can loop over a QuerySet directly with a for loop, just like a list.
  • objects is the default manager Django attaches to every model automatically.
🔒

Chapter Quiz — Complete all 10 topics to unlock

0/10 topics done

Complete these topics first:

← Previous Lesson Creating Model Instances Next Lesson → Filtering QuerySets

Login to run this code

C/C++/Java/PHP execution requires a free account. Your code is saved — you'll land right back in the editor after logging in.