In this post I will show you 2 ways to repair SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). You repair SSMS when you notice that SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has stopped working or is crashing.
It’s very rare that you see SSMS crashing while you are using it. I have experienced the SSMS crash only once and that did not appear again when I restarted my machine. Microsoft has published a nice article on how to get diagnostic data after a SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) crash.
SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is an integrated environment for managing SQL infrastructure. You can manage your SQL Server and even Azure SQL Database. SSMS provides tools to configure, monitor, and administer instances of SQL Server and databases.
Beginning with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.7, Azure Data Studio is automatically installed alongside SSMS.
SCCM admins typically use SQL Server Management Studio to connect to SQL Server and access ConfigMgr database. When you install SQL Server 2019 for ConfigMgr, you have to manually download and install SQL Server Management Studio.
How to Repair SQL Server Management Studio
To repair SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
- Close the SSMS application(if it is running).
- On the computer, go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Programs and Features.
- From the list of programs, right click SQL Server Management Studio and click Uninstall.
- Click Repair to begin the SSMS install repair.
You get three options when you uninstall SQL Server Management Studio.
- Repair – Select this option to repair SQL Server Management Studio install.
- Uninstall – Select this option to uninstall SQL Server Management Studio.
- Close – Cancels the Repair SSMS or Uninstall process.
Click Repair.
After few minutes, the SSMS repair completes. Your computer must restart after you repair SSMS.
SSMS Setup Help Switches
You can also repair SSMS using command line. The SSMS-Setup executable actually provides additional switches. You can find the SSMS setup help options by running the SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe /?. Launch the command prompt as administrator. Run the command SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe /?.
- /install – Install SSMS
- /repair – repair SSMS install
- /uninstall – uninstall SSMS
- /passive – displays minimal UI with no prompts
- /quiet – displays no UI and prompts
- /norestart – suppress any restarts
- /log – prefix for SSMS setup logs
- /SSMSInstallRoot – specify the path to SSMS location
Repair SSMS using Command Line
Use the following steps to repair SSMS using command line. Launch the command prompt as administrator. Run the command
SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe /repair
The repair option actually brings up the window or UI prompt where you get options to repair and uninstall SSMS. You may click repair option to repair SQL Server Management Studio.
If you don’t want any UI prompts and want to suppress the reboot after SSMS installation, use the command.
SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe /repair /quiet /norestart
SSMS Repair Video Tutorial
Here is a video that covers how to repair SQL Server Management Studio.