Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is a software application developed by Microsoft that is used for configuring, managing, and administering all components within Microsoft SQL Server. First launched with Microsoft SQL Server 2005, it is the successor to the Enterprise Manager in SQL 2000 or before. The tool includes both script editors and graphical tools which work with objects and features of the server.[2]
A central feature of SSMS is the Object Explorer, which allows the user to browse, select, and act upon any of the objects within the server.[3] It also shipped a separate Express edition that could be freely downloaded; however recent versions of SSMS are fully capable of connecting to and manage any SQL Server Express instance. Microsoft also incorporated backwards compatibility for older versions of SQL Server thus allowing a newer version of SSMS to connect to older versions of SQL Server instances. It also comes with Microsoft SQL Server Express 2012, or users can download it separately.
Starting from version 11, the application was based on the Visual Studio 2010 shell, using WPF for the user interface. Versions 18 and after are based on the Visual Studio 2017 Isolated Shell.[4]
In June 2015, Microsoft announced their intention to release future versions of SSMS independently of SQL Server database engine releases.[5]
Since version 21 SSMS is based on Visual Studio 2022 and is installed using the Visual Studio Installer. [6]
See also[edit] Comparison of database administration tools SQL Server Management Objects References[edit] ^ "Install SQL Server Management Studio". 2025-08-12. Retrieved 2025-08-13. ^ "What is SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)?". microsoft.com. 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2022-07-14. ^ "Manage Objects by Using Object Explorer". microsoft.com. 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-07-14. ^ "SSMS 18.0 (preview 4)". SQL Server Management Studio - Changelog (SSMS). Microsoft. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018. ^ "Announcing SQL Server Management Studio – June 2015 Release". SQL Release Services Blog. Microsoft. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 7 September 2015. ^ "Release notes for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)". Microsoft Learn. Microsoft. 19 May 2025. External links[edit] SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) vteMicrosoft development toolsDevelopmentenvironmentsVisual Studio Code Express Team System Profiler Tools for Applications Tools for Office Others Blend Expression Web FxCop GW-BASIC MACRO-80 Macro Assembler MSBuild Pascal QuickBASIC QBasic QuickC Robotics Developer Studio Roslyn SharePoint Designer FrontPage Small Basic WebMatrix Windows App SDK Windows App Studio Windows SDK CLR Profiler ILAsm Native Image Generator WinDiff XAMLPad Languages Dynamics AX BASIC Visual Basic legacy VB.NET VBA VBScript Bosque Visual C++ C++/CX C++/CLI Managed C++ C++/WinRT C# C/AL Dafny Dexterity F# F* Visual FoxPro Ja J++ J# JaScript TypeScript JScript IronPython IronRuby Lean P Power Fx PowerShell Project Verona Q# Small Basic VPL XAML APIs andframeworksNative Windows API Silverlight XNA DirectX Managed DirectX UWP Xbox Development Kit Windows Installer WinUI .NET ASP.NET Core AJAX Dynamic Data MVC Razor Web Forms ADO.NET Entity Framework MAUI CardSpace Communication Foundation Identity Foundation LINQ Presentation Foundation Workflow Foundation Device drivers WDK WDF KMDF UMDF Windows HLK WDM DatabaseSQL Server Express Compact Management Studio MSDE SQL services Analysis Reporting Integration Notification Other Visual FoxPro Microsoft Access Access Database Engine Extensible Storage Engine Source control Visual SourceSafe Team Foundation Version Control Testing anddebugging CodeView OneFuzz Playwright Script Debugger WinDbg xUnit.net Delivery Active Setup ClickOnce npm NuGet vcpkg Web Platform Installer Windows Installer WiX Windows Package Manager Microsoft Store CategoryThis article about software created, produced or developed by Microsoft is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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