SET NOCOUNT (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric
Stops the message that shows the count of the number of rows affected by a Transact-SQL statement or stored procedure from being returned as part of the result set.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
SET NOCOUNT { ON | OFF }
Note
To view Transact-SQL syntax for SQL Server 2014 and earlier, see Previous versions documentation.
Remarks
When SET NOCOUNT is ON, the count is not returned. When SET NOCOUNT is OFF, the count is returned.
The @@ROWCOUNT function is updated even when SET NOCOUNT is ON.
SET NOCOUNT ON prevents the sending of DONEINPROC messages to the client for each statement in a stored procedure. For stored procedures that contain several statements that do not return much actual data, or for procedures that contain Transact-SQL loops, setting SET NOCOUNT to ON can provide a significant performance boost, because network traffic is greatly reduced.
The setting specified by SET NOCOUNT is in effect at execute or run time and not at parse time.
To view the current setting for this setting, run the following query.
DECLARE @NOCOUNT VARCHAR(3) = 'OFF';
IF ( (512 & @@OPTIONS) = 512 ) SET @NOCOUNT = 'ON';
SELECT @NOCOUNT AS NOCOUNT;
Permissions
Requires membership in the public role.
Examples
The following example prevents the message about the number of rows affected from being displayed. In the following example, "(5 rows affected)" will only be returned to clients from the first SELECT statement.
USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO
-- Display the count message.
SELECT TOP(5) LastName
FROM Person.Person
WHERE LastName LIKE 'A%';
GO
-- SET NOCOUNT to ON to no longer display the count message.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
GO
SELECT TOP(5) LastName
FROM Person.Person
WHERE LastName LIKE 'A%';
GO
-- Reset SET NOCOUNT to OFF
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO