CREATE TABLE abc(a int auto_increment PRIMARY KEY, b varchar(1024), c varchar(1024))ENGINE=INNODB; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) VALUES (repeat('b', 1024), repeat('c', 1024)); INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; INSERT INTO abc (b,c) SELECT b,c FROM abc; SELECT DATA_LENGTH, INDEX_LENGTH from information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'test' AND TABLE_NAME = 'abc'; DATA_LENGTH INDEX_LENGTH # 0 ALTER TABLE abc add INDEX cc (c(800)); SELECT DATA_LENGTH, INDEX_LENGTH from information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'test' AND TABLE_NAME = 'abc'; DATA_LENGTH INDEX_LENGTH # 17809408 ALTER TABLE abc add INDEX bb (b(800)); SELECT DATA_LENGTH, INDEX_LENGTH from information_schema.TABLES WHERE TABLE_SCHEMA = 'test' AND TABLE_NAME = 'abc'; DATA_LENGTH INDEX_LENGTH # 35618816 DROP TABLE abc;