SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is a tool distributed and updated separately from SQL Server. Installing a new cumulative update on the server doesn’t update SSMS, and updating SSMS doesn’t change the server. When this separation isn’t understood, two problems follow: new server versions get managed with an SSMS that hasn’t been updated for years, or server-side changes get planned for no reason just to update SSMS.
This article covers why to keep SSMS current, how to check your version and how to update it.
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Why Keep It Current?
- Support for new versions: an old SSMS doesn’t recognize newer SQL Server features; some dialogs may fail or not show new object types.
- Security and connectivity: current versions support the connection encryption and certificate validation defaults of newer drivers, and Microsoft Entra ID authentication.
- Bug fixes: bugs in the execution plan viewer, IntelliSense and wizards are fixed in newer versions.
- Backward compatibility: a current SSMS can also manage supported older SQL Server versions; there’s usually no need to keep an old SSMS for old servers.
Checking Your Version
In SSMS, Help › About shows the SSMS version and the versions of its components. This number isn’t the same as the version of the SQL Server you connect to (SELECT @@VERSION).
How to Update
- SSMS 21 and later: installed and updated through the Visual Studio Installer. An update notification appears in SSMS; you can start the update from the Visual Studio Installer or from the update command in SSMS. Settings and registered servers are kept.
- SSMS 20 and earlier: comes with a standalone installer; download the new version and install it over the existing one.
Updating SSMS doesn’t touch the server and doesn’t need a restart; closing SSMS is enough.
Warning
Avoid installing SSMS on the production database server itself and doing daily work through remote desktop sessions on the server. SSMS and the background operations it opens consume the server’s memory and CPU, raise the risk of running the wrong command on the wrong server, and leave an unnecessary software surface on the server. Install SSMS on dedicated admin workstations or a management server.
Managing SSMS in an Organization
- Standardize the SSMS version the DBA team uses; different versions can behave differently in script generation and plan display.
- Manage updates together with the workstation software distribution process.
- Mark production and test servers with different colors in registered servers; most commands run on the wrong server come from this confusion.
- If you get certificate warnings connecting to older servers because of the new encryption defaults, the permanent fix is assigning trusted certificates to the servers. See our connection errors guide.
Tip
With SSMS’s Registered Servers feature, you can register servers in groups and run the same query on every server in a group at once. It’s the simplest way to do routine work such as version, backup or configuration checks across the whole environment in minutes.
Checklist
- SSMS versions on DBA workstations are current and standardized.
- SSMS isn’t installed on production servers, or isn’t used for daily work there.
- Production and test environments are distinguishable in registered servers.
- Servers have trusted certificates; certificate warnings are fixed for good.
Related Reading
SQL Server Consulting
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