in SSMS, is there any way to preview table contents without writing a query?

Question

Browsing table contents in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) doesn't seem as easy as it should be. In contrast to other client software I have used, I can't find a way to simply click on a table and view its top rows (i.e. preview it).

The closest is to right click and "SELECT Top 1000 Rows" but not only is that two clicks, more importantly it opens a new query tab. If I'm browsing a lot of tables, I end up needing to juggle a lot of unnecessary tabs.

Is there a better way?

There is no PREVIEW functionality built into SSMS that I am aware of. — logixologist, Mar 30 '17 at 17:46

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 31 '17 at 13:49

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Currently in SQL Server Management Studio there is no functionality like this built in. You are correct that the only way to view the data content is right click on the table name in Object Explorer and SELECT TOP 1000 ROWS. There are some 3rd party tools that might have a PREVIEW functionality but this is not in SSMS.

answered Mar 31 '17 at 13:49

logixologist

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That's a bummer, but thanks for what appears to be the correct answer. – Stephen Mar 31 '17 at 15:11

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 30 '17 at 18:02

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What you can do is to select on the table in the query tab and right-click and then "design query in the editor"

answered Mar 30 '17 at 18:02

Fabiano Carvalho

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That doesn't show table data, unless I'm missing something. – Stephen Mar 30 '17 at 18:26

in SSMS, is there any way to preview table contents without writing a query?

2 Answers2