Title: wpdb::escape
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: February 24, 2026

---

# wpdb::escape( string|array $data ): string|array

## In this article

 * [Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#description)
    - [See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#see-also)
 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#return)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

This method has been deprecated since 3.6.0. Use [wpdb::prepare()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/prepare/)
instead.

Do not use, deprecated.

## 󠀁[Description](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#description)󠁿

Use [esc_sql()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_sql/) or
[wpdb::prepare()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/prepare/)
instead.

### 󠀁[See also](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#see-also)󠁿

 * [wpdb::prepare()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/prepare/)
 * [esc_sql()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_sql/)

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$data`string|arrayrequired

Data to escape.

## 󠀁[Return](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#return)󠁿

 string|array Escaped data, in the same type as supplied.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public function escape( $data ) {
    	if ( func_num_args() === 1 && function_exists( '_deprecated_function' ) ) {
    		_deprecated_function( __METHOD__, '3.6.0', 'wpdb::prepare() or esc_sql()' );
    	}
    	if ( is_array( $data ) ) {
    		foreach ( $data as $k => $v ) {
    			if ( is_array( $v ) ) {
    				$data[ $k ] = $this->escape( $v, 'recursive' );
    			} else {
    				$data[ $k ] = $this->_weak_escape( $v, 'internal' );
    			}
    		}
    	} else {
    		$data = $this->_weak_escape( $data, 'internal' );
    	}

    	return $data;
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php#L1336)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.9.4/src/wp-includes/class-wpdb.php#L1336-L1353)

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [wpdb::escape()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/)`wp-includes/class-wpdb.php` |

Do not use, deprecated.

  | 
| [wpdb::_weak_escape()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/_weak_escape/)`wp-includes/class-wpdb.php` |

Do not use, deprecated.

  | 
| [_deprecated_function()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_deprecated_function/)`wp-includes/functions.php` |

Marks a function as deprecated and inform when it has been used.

  |

[Show 1 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#)

| Used by | Description | 
| [wpdb::escape()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/)`wp-includes/class-wpdb.php` |

Do not use, deprecated.

  |

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/escape/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [3.6.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/3.6.0/) | Deprecated. Use [wpdb::prepare()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wpdb/prepare/) | 
| [0.71](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/0.71/) | Introduced. |

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