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View or change the compatibility level of a database

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance SQL database in Microsoft Fabric

This article describes how to view or change the compatibility level of a database in SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, or Azure SQL Managed Instance by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL.

Before you change the compatibility level of a database, you should understand the effect of the change on your applications. For more information, see ALTER DATABASE compatibility level.

The Transact-SQL code samples in this article use the AdventureWorks2022 or AdventureWorksDW2022 sample database, which you can download from the Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects home page.

Permissions

Requires ALTER permission on the database.

Use SQL Server Management Studio

To view or change the compatibility level of a database using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

  1. Connect to the appropriate server or instance hosting your database.

  2. Select the server name in Object Explorer.

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

    Note

    You can't modify the compatibility level of system databases in Azure SQL Database.

  4. Right-click the database, and then select Properties.

    The Database Properties dialog box opens.

  5. In the Select a page pane, select Options.

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

    To change the compatibility level, select a different option from the list. The available options for different Database Engine versions are listed in the ALTER DATABASE Compatibility Level (Transact-SQL) page.

Use Transact-SQL

You can use Transact-SQL to view or change the compatibility level of a database using SSMS or Azure Data Studio.

View the compatibility level of a database

  1. Connect to the appropriate server or instance hosting your database.

  2. Open a New Query.

  3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and select Execute. This example returns the compatibility level of the AdventureWorks2022 sample database.

    USE AdventureWorks2022;
    GO
    SELECT compatibility_level
    FROM sys.databases WHERE name = 'AdventureWorks2022';
    GO
    

Change the compatibility level of a database

  1. Connect to the appropriate server or instance hosting your database.

  2. From the Standard bar, select New Query.

  3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and select Execute. This example changes the compatibility level of the AdventureWorks2022 database to 160, which is the compatibility level for SQL Server 2022 (16.x).

    ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks2022
    SET COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL = 160;
    GO
    

Note

The compatibility level of a Fabric SQL database cannot be changed, and always uses the latest version.