Get All Items from DynamoDB Using Java (Guide w/ Code Examples)

Use the Scan paginator when you truly need every item and no key-based access pattern applies. It fetches pages lazily; process each page rather than storing the entire table in memory.

This example uses Java 17+ and the software.amazon.awssdk:dynamodb SDK 2.x dependency. Configure an AWS Region and credentials through your usual AWS profile or runtime role. The Orders table has String keys pk and sk; adapt the table and keys to your schema.

import java.util.*;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.DynamoDbClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.*;

public class Example {
    static AttributeValue s(String value) { return AttributeValue.builder().s(value).build(); }
    static Map<String, AttributeValue> key(String order) {
        return Map.of("pk", s("CUSTOMER#123"), "sk", s(order));
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        try (DynamoDbClient ddb = DynamoDbClient.create()) {
            ScanRequest request = ScanRequest.builder().tableName("Orders").build();
            for (ScanResponse page : ddb.scanPaginator(request)) {
                page.items().forEach(System.out::println);
            }
        }
    }
}

A scan consumes table read capacity and is not a point-in-time snapshot, even with strong consistency. For large analytical extracts, consider export to S3.

Reference: AWS Scan API. For related access patterns, see DynamoDB query examples.