Have you ever wondered about the various features and functionalities of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)? In this blog post, we will delve into one of the lesser-known features of SSMS – the “Connect to Server” screen. This feature allows you to easily connect to different SQL Server instances without having to type in the server name or IP address every time.

When you log in to SQL Server from a non-regular machine, such as a developer’s workstation, the server name is saved in SSMS. This can be quite useful as it saves you the hassle of manually entering the server details each time. However, there may be instances where you want SSMS to forget all the servers listed in the drop-down menu of the “Connect to Server” screen.

To achieve this, you need to know where this information is stored. By using a tool like Process Monitor (ProcMon), you can easily identify the file location. In SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio, the file is located at %appdata%\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Shell\SqlStudio.bin. For SQL Server 2012, the file path is %appdata%\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\110\Tools\Shell\SqlStudio.bin.

Now, you might be wondering, what is the new feature in SSMS 2012? Many users have requested the ability to delete entries from the “Connect to Server” server name list. While deleting the file directly is not officially supported by Microsoft, SSMS 2012 provides a better way to achieve this.

To delete servers from the list, simply highlight the name you want to remove (using either the keyboard or mouse) and press the delete key. Unfortunately, multi-select is not available, so you will need to delete entries one by one. However, you can delete as many entries as you want.

It’s important to note that this feature is not available in SQL Server 2008 R2 and its previous versions. It was introduced in response to user feedback given to the SQL Server Product group.

We hope you found this exploration of the “Connect to Server” feature in SSMS insightful. It’s always fascinating to discover hidden functionalities that can enhance our productivity as SQL Server professionals. Stay tuned for more SQL Server tips and tricks in our upcoming blog posts!