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Customise SSMS query tab information

Aim: To remove unnecessary information from SSMS query tabs, to make them more useful & easier to read.

I was reminded of this very useful customisation in SSMS the other day while reviewing Brent Ozar training notes.

By default, SSMS includes the file (query), server, database & login names in the query tab. Unless these names are only a few characters long, this usually results in truncation of the information, making it less than useful. You have to hover your cursor over the query tab to see the full string.

01_default_tab_info

To remove unnecessary information (e.g. server & login names*), open Options from the Tools menu & navigate to “Editor Tab and Status Bar” under Text Editor. In the right-hand window, scroll to the “Tab Text” section at the bottom. By default, all four options are set to True. Set the server & login names to False.

02_options_editor_tab

After making the changes, any queries that are opened will only contain the file & database names.

03_new_tab_info

* Server, database & login names can all be found on the Status Bar which is located at the bottom of the query window (by default). I like to leave the database name in the tab as this can be useful when visually scanning multiple tabs open at the same time in SSMS.

2 Comments

  1. ukprogrammer ukprogrammer

    This is good, but how do you do this with an open table tab? I want to show only the table name, not the server name or the database name. Thanks.

    • Not a clue, I’m afraid. It’s not a feature I use much & there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious about it in the options.

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