Increase the Size of a Database

This topic describes how to increase the size of a database in SQL Server 2012 by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL. The database is expanded by either increasing the size of an existing data or log file or by adding a new file to the database.

In This Topic

• Before you begin:

  Limitations and Restrictions

  Security

• To increase the size of a database, using:

  SQL Server Management Studio

  Transact-SQL

Before You Begin

Limitations and Restrictions

• You cannot add or remove a file while a BACKUP statement is running.

Security

Permissions

Requires ALTER permission on the database.

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Using SQL Server Management Studio

To increase the size of a database

1. In Object Explorer, connect to an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine, and then expand that instance.

2. Expand Databases, right-click the database to increase, and then click Properties.

3. In Database Properties, select the Files page.

4. To increase the size of an existing file, increase the value in the Initial Size (MB) column for the file. You must increase the size of the database by at least 1 megabyte.

5. To increase the size of the database by adding a new file, click Add and then enter the values for the new file. For more information, see Add Data or Log Files to a Database.

6. Click OK.

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Using Transact-SQL

To increase the size of a database

1. Connect to the Database Engine.

2. From the Standard bar, click New Query.

3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and click Execute. This example increases the size of the file test1dat3.

USE master;
GO
ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks2012 
MODIFY FILE
    (NAME = test1dat3,
    SIZE = 20MB);
GO

For more examples, see ALTER DATABASE File and Filegroup Options (Transact-SQL).

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See Also

Concepts

Add Data or Log Files to a Database

Shrink a Database