Release notes for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

Article
03/13/2023
14 minutes to read

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics

This article details updates, improvements, and bug fixes for the current and previous versions of SSMS.

Note

In December 2021, releases of SSMS prior to 18.6 will no longer authenticate to Database Engines through Azure Active Directory with MFA. To continue utilizing Azure Active Directory authentication with MFA, you need SSMS 18.6 or later.

Connectivity to Azure Analysis Services through Azure Active Directory with MFA requires SSMS 18.5.1 or later.

Current SSMS release

Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 19.0.2

SSMS 19.0.2 is the latest general availability (GA) release of SSMS. If you need a previous version of SSMS, see previous SSMS releases.

19.0.2

Release number: 19.0.2
Build number: 19.0.20209.0
Release date: March 13, 2023

What's new in 19.0.2

New Item	Details
Azure Data Studio installation integration	The installation of SSMS installs Azure Data Studio 1.41.2.

Bug fixes in 19.0.2

New Item	Details
Connection	Addressed error "Your app has been throttled by AAD due to too many requests" when using Azure Active Directory authentication. See SSMS 19 AAD Integrated: Your app has been throttled by AAD due to too many requests.
Connection	Resolved SSMS crash behavior when logging into Azure and changing the user.
Fulltext	Fixed an issue that caused a table's fulltext index to be rebuilt when moving the table to a different filegroup.
General SSMS	Added digital signature to dll files.
Link feature for Azure Managed Instance	Fixed error "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation" which occurred when a subscription with no resource groups was selected attempting to create a link using Managed Instance link wizard.
Managed Instance	Restored ability to view File and FileGroups pages on Database Properties window. See bugs in 19.0.1.
Profiler	Fixed issue that generated "Errors in the OLE DB provider. Unable to obtain authentication token using the credentials provided" error trying to run SQL Profiler with a Power BI workspace.
Replication	Addressed error "Property Password cannot be changed or read after a connection string has been set" which occurred when trying to configure a replication subscriber. See SSMS 19 - Issue while connecting to subsciber during replication configuration.
Replication	Fixed error "SQL Server encountered one or more errors while retrieving information about publication" which occurred when trying to view the properties for a publication. See SSMS 19.0.1 cannot open Properties dialog for local publications.
Reports	Corrected server startup time on Server Dashboard report.
SQL Agent	Addressed inability to start the SQL Agent from SSMS.

Known issues (19.0.2)

New Item	Details	Workaround
Database Designer	Selecting the Design option for a view that references a table using spatial data causes SSMS to crash.	Use T-SQL to make changes to the view.
General SSMS	Import setting from SSMS 17 option not available.	Settings can be imported from SSMS 18.
Profiler	The Profiler menu is not localized.	No current alternative.
Query Editor	When SSMS opens after double-clicking on a .sql file, the Object Explorer window is displayed as a separate window.
SQL Managed Instance	Viewing database properties for a SQL MI database may return the error "Subquery returned more than one value. This isn't permitted when the subquery follows =, !=, <, <=, >, >= or when the subquery is used as an expression. (.NET SqlClient Data Provider)".	There's a known problem due to incorrect data in `msdb`. To resolve, remove back up history. For example, `EXEC`msdb`..sp_delete_backuphistory @oldest_date = '<current date>'`.
Storage Account	Trying to delete a container from a storage account fails with a (400) Bad Request error.	Use the Azure portal for container deletion.
Server Audit	Error "Item has already been added. Key in dictionary: 'MNDO' Key being added: 'MNDO'" when viewing Logs for an Audit.	No current workaround.
Stretch DB	Removed Stretch DB Wizard.	Use T-SQL to configure Stretch DB or use SSMS 18.9.1 or earlier to use the Stretch DB Wizard.

You can reference SQL Server user feedback for other known issues and to provide feedback to the product team.

Previous SSMS releases

Download previous SSMS versions by selecting the download link in the related section.

SSMS version	Build number	Release date
19.0.1	19.0.20200.0	February 2, 2023
19.0	19.0.20196.0	January 26, 2023
18.12.1	15.0.18420.0	June 21, 2022
17.9.1	14.0.17289.0	November 21, 2018
16.5.3	13.0.16106.4	January 30, 2017

19.0.1

Release number: 19.0.1
Build number: 19.0.20200.0
Release date: February 2, 2023

What's new in 19.0.1

New Item	Details
Azure Data Studio installation integration	The installation of SSMS installs Azure Data Studio 1.41.1.

Bug fixes in 19.0.1

New Item	Details
Maintenance Plan	Fixed issue that generated "Failed to retrieve data for this request" error when using backup to NUL in the Back Up Database Task.
Object Explorer	Fixed a regression which caused Object Explorer to not show database objects for Azure SQL DB Basic SLO.

19.0

Release number: 19.0
Build number: 19.0.20196.0
Release date: January 26, 2023

What's new in 19.0

New Item	Details
Support for SQL Server 2022	SSMS 19.0 is the first release that is fully aware of SQL Server 2022 (compatibility level 160).
Azure Data Studio installation integration	The installation of SSMS installs Azure Data Studio 1.41.
Accessibility	Improved keyboard navigation and screen reader text in the data classification window.
Always Encrypted	Added the ability to explicitly configure an attestation protocol in the "Connect To Server" dialog when using Always Encrypted with secure enclaves (column encryption).
Azure Active Directory Authentication	Connections to relational SQL instances now support Azure Active Directory Service Principal, Azure Active Directory Managed Identity and Azure Active Directory Default authentication methods. “Default” uses a series of possible sources for authentication, including environment variables, Azure Managed Identity, the user’s shared token cache, Visual Studio, Azure CLI, and Azure PowerShell. For more information, visit: Options (Azure Services)
Auditing	Added support for SQL 2022 actions.
Client Driver	Changed to Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.
Contained Always On Availability Group	Added support for Contained Always On Availability Groups.
Data Classification	Improvements to Data Classification user interface.
Database Tuning Advisor	Added support for increased nonclustered index size (up to 1700 bytes), originally made available in SQL Server 2016, to allow for expanded index recommendations.
General SSMS	Added a new page, Tools > Options > Output Window, to allow users to control what window channels appear in the Output window. See [Options Output Window - General) for more information.
German Azure	Removed references to Azure Germany from SSMS.
Ledger	Added support for import/export of a bacpac or dacpac created from a database with LEDGER = ON.
Ledger	Added support for Ledger feature Database ledger. For more information, visit What is the database ledger?.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance	Introduced rollback support if selected tasks fail in the MI Link wizard.
Maintenance Plan	The Maintenance Plan node is now available in Object Explorer.
Object Explorer	Dropped Columns folder now exists under the Columns folder for Ledger tables, which have been altered to remove one or more columns.
PowerShell	Removed “Generate PowerShell Script from In-Memory OLTP Migration.
Query Execution or Results	Improved checks for open connections.
Query Plan	Added ellipses button to Residual property for Merge Join operator. See SSMS: Add ellipsis button to Residual property for Merge Join operator.
Query Results	Added option in Tools > Options > Query Execution to not display the “querying transaction count” window when closing a query window. See SSMS - Querying transaction count - Async.
Query Tuning Assistant	Updated user interface for improved accessibility.
Security	Added support for permissions introduced in SQL Server 2022 and SQL Server 2019.
Scripting	Compatibility level defaults to 160 when scripting.
Showplan	The showplan XML schema has been updated.
Showplan	Added support for Hyperscale Optimized Query Processing.
Showplan	Added DOPFeedbackAdjusted query plan attribute.
SNAC	Removed dependency on SQL Server Native Client (SNAC/SQLNCLI) from SSMS. Visit Support Policies - SQL Server Native Client for more information.
SqlParser	Added support for the TRIM function.

Bug fixes in 19.0

New Item	Details
Accessibility	Fixed accessibility issue when navigating in the data classification window.
Activity Monitor	Fixed issue where SSMS terminated unexpectedly when viewing a query plan from Activity Monitor.
Analysis Services	Connection to Analysis Services is now available.
Always Encrypted	Addressed issue where users couldn't sign in to the Column Master Key dialog after signing out.
Availability Group Dashboard	Fixed the issue when connecting to the Availability Group Dashboard for an AG on SQL Server 2016, which resulted in "unknown property ClusterType" error.
Backup	Added ability to create a NUL backup device against SQL Server 2017.
Central Management Servers	Provided ability to view SQL ERRORLOGs from Central Management Servers before SQL 2022.
Column Master Key	Increased width of Column Master Key name in the rotation dialog, so the full name is visible.
Connection	Fixed an issue with authentication that doesn't use Azure Resource Manager and Microsoft Information Protection.
Connection	Addressed issue with logging into Azure with a non-SQL authenticated on a machine not joined to a domain.
Copy Database Wizard	Fixed the log provider type error, which occurred when copying a database using The SQL Management Object method.
Database Restore	Resolved error generated when restoring a backup to an existing database. See Unexpected behavior by SSMS.
Database Tuning Advisor	Added ability to ignore unexpected elements in showplan XML when generating recommendations.
Database Tuning Advisor	Resolved failure to populate the tuning log table issue.
Database Tuning Advisor	Implemented security fixes, including replacing ZeroMemory with SecureZeroMemory.
Import/Export Data-Tier Application	Restored ability to deploy an extracted dacpac to a database via the Deploy Data-Tier Application option.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance	Fixed problem with leaking connections in MI Link.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance	Updated size of subscription dropdown in the login to Azure pane to properly display subscription names.
Link feature for Azure SQL Managed Instance	Updated display to show Azure sign-in options correctly.
Microsoft Information Protection	Improved icon display when viewing Microsoft Information Protection in older versions of SQL Server.
Object Explorer	SSMS no longer crashes using the Create View UX to create a view with invalid syntax.
Object Explorer	No longer display Ledger objects if not supported by the platform.
Partitioning	Added support for Azure SQL Managed Instance partitioned tables in the Manage Partition Window UX.
Power BI Datamart	Added ability to connect to a Power BI Datamart.
Query Editor	Fixed issue with audible notification occurring when closing a query window. See SSMS 18.11.1 Beeps When I Close a Query Window.
Registered Servers	Fixed connection issue for a multi-server query with multiple registered servers in the same folder.
Replication	Fixed error "Merge publications can't be created from this database until the compatibility level is set to 70 or higher." when using the publication wizard to create a new merge publication.
Security	Added missing database permissions.
Scripting	Added ability to Script as Insert for DW.
SQL Agent	The Queued status is now shown for queued jobs in SQL Agent.
SMO/Scripting	Addressed CREATE TABLE scripting failure after adding datetime masking for a column.
SqlParser	Fixed incorrect syntax for DATE_BUCKET function.
SqlParser	Added missing options for CREATE USER and CREATE LOGIN.
SSIS	The "Schedule..." menu item is now visible in the Azure SSIS Catalog.
Synapse	Created consistent naming for Synapse offerings in SSMS.
XEvents	Fixed an issue where reading target data for event sessions whose name overlaps with another session name caused data from the incorrect event session to appear in the viewer.

Known issues (19.0)

New Item	Details	Workaround
Database Designer	Selecting the Design option for a view that references a table using spatial data causes SSMS to crash.	Use T-SQL to make changes to the view.
Profiler	The Profiler menu is not localized.	No current alternative.
Query Editor	When SSMS opens after double-clicking on a .sql file, the Object Explorer window is displayed as a separate window.
SQL Managed Instance	Viewing database properties for a SQL MI database may return the error "Subquery returned more than one value. This isn't permitted when the subquery follows =, !=, <, <=, >, >= or when the subquery is used as an expression. (.NET SqlClient Data Provider)".	There's a known problem due to incorrect data in `msdb`. To resolve, remove back up history. For example, `EXEC`msdb`..sp_delete_backuphistory @oldest_date = '<current date>'`.
Storage Account	Trying to delete a container from a storage account fails with a (400) Bad Request error.	Use the Azure portal for container deletion.
Server Audit	Error "Item has already been added. Key in dictionary: 'MNDO' Key being added: 'MNDO'" when viewing Logs for an Audit.	No current workaround.
Stretch DB	Removed Stretch DB Wizard.	Use T-SQL to configure Stretch DB or use SSMS 18.9.1 or earlier to use the Stretch DB Wizard.

18.12.1

Release number: 18.12.1
Build number: 15.0.18424.0
Release date: June 21, 2022

What's new in 18.12.1

New Item	Details
Azure Data Studio installation integration	Installation of SSMS installs Azure Data Studio 1.37.

Bug fixes in 18.12.1

New Item	Details
Always Encrypted	Fixed issue with Column Master Key creation generating an exception when using Azure Key Vault as the key store.
Data Classification	Fixed issue with "Couldn't load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Information.Protection', Version=1.10.98.0" after upgrading to SSMS 18.10 or higher. See Latest SSMS 18.11.1 breaks the Data Classification. Get missing assembly error after updating.
SSMS General	Resolved error related to dacpac deployment using the Deploy Data-tier application option in Azure SQL DB with MFA.

17.9.1

Download SSMS 17.9.1

Release number: 17.9.1
Build number: 14.0.17289.0
Release date: November 21, 2018

Bug fixes in 17.9.1

Fixed an issue where users may experience their connection being closed and reopened with each query invocation when using "Azure Active Directory - Universal with MFA support" authentication with the SQL query editor. Side effects of the connection closing included global temporary tables being dropped unexpectedly and sometimes a new SPID given to the connection.
Fixed a long outstanding issue where a restore plan would fail to find a restore plan or generate an inefficient one under certain conditions.
Fixed an issue in the "Import Data-tier Application" wizard, which could result in an error when connected to an Azure SQL Database.

Note

Non-English localized releases of SSMS 17.x require the KB 2862966 security update package if installed on: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Uninstall and reinstall SSMS 17.x

If your SSMS installation is having problems, and a standard uninstall and reinstall doesn't resolve them, you can first try repairing the Visual Studio 2015 IsoShell. If repairing the Visual Studio 2015 IsoShell doesn't resolve the problem, the following steps have been found to fix many random issues:

Uninstall SSMS the same way you uninstall any application (using Apps & features, Programs, and features, depending on your version of Windows).
Uninstall Visual Studio 2015 IsoShell from an elevated cmd prompt:

PUSHD "C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\FE948F0DAB52EB8CB5A740A77D8934B9E1A8E301\redist" vs_isoshell.exe /Uninstall /Force /PromptRestart
Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable the same way you uninstall any application. Uninstall both x86 and x64 if they're on your computer.
Reinstall Visual Studio 2015 IsoShell from an elevated cmd prompt:

PUSHD "C:\ProgramData\Package Cache\FE948F0DAB52EB8CB5A740A77D8934B9E1A8E301\redist" vs_isoshell.exe /PromptRestart
Reinstall SSMS.
Upgrade to the latest version of the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable if you're not currently up to date.

16.5.3

Download SSMS 16.5.3

Release number: 16.5.3
Build number: 13.0.16106.4
Release date: January 30, 2017

Bug fixes in 16.5.3

Fixed an issue introduced in SSMS 16.5.2, which was causing the expansion of the 'Table' node when the table had more than one sparse column.
Users can deploy SSIS packages containing OData Connection Manager, which connects to a Microsoft Dynamics AX/CRM Online resource to the SSIS catalog. For more information, For details, see OData Connection Manager.
Configuring Always Encrypted on an existing table fails with errors on unrelated objects. Connect ID 3103181
Configuring Always Encrypted for an existing database with multiple schemas doesn't work. Connect ID 3109591
The Always Encrypted, Encrypted Column wizard fails due to the database containing views that reference system views. Connect ID 3111925
When encrypting with Always Encrypted, errors from refreshing modules after encryption are incorrectly handled.
Open recent menu doesn't show recently saved files. Connect ID 3113288
SSMS is slow when right-clicking an index for a table (over a remote (Internet) connection). Connect ID 3114074
Fixed an issue with the SQL Designer scrollbar. Connect ID 3114856
Context menu for tables momentarily stops responding
SSMS occasionally throws exceptions in Activity Monitor and crashes. Connect ID 697527
SSMS 2016 crashes with the error "The process was terminated due to an internal error in the .NET Runtime at IP 71AF8579 (71AE0000) with exit code 80131506"

Additional Downloads

For a list of all SQL Server Management Studio downloads, search the Microsoft Download Center.

For the latest release of SQL Server Management Studio, For details, see Download SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).