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How to: View or Change the Compatibility Level of a Database (SQL Server Management Studio)

This topic explains how to view or change the compatibility level of a database.

To view or change the compatibility level of a database

  1. After connecting to the appropriate instance of the SQL Server Database Engine, in Object Explorer, click the server name to expand the server tree.

  2. Expand Databases, and, depending on the database, either select a user database or expand System Databases and select a system database.

  3. Right-click the database, and then click Properties.

    The Database Properties dialog box opens.

  4. In the Select a page pane, click Options.

    The current compatibility level is displayed in the Compatibility level list box.

  5. To change the compatibility level, select a different option from the list. The choices are SQL Server 2000 (80), SQL Server 2005 (90), or SQL Server 2008 (100).

    Important

    Before changing the compatibility level of a database, you should understand the impact of the change on your applications. For more information, see ALTER DATABASE Compatibility Level (Transact-SQL).