2 Ways to Repair SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

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 on your computer while you are using it. For example, you may encounter SSMS error: SQL Server Management Studio has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

The issues could be directly related to SSMS installation or other dependency components. In rare cases, your Microsoft SQL management studio installation files are corrupted, and they require a repair or re-installation.

You should always use the latest version of SQL SSMS on your computer. There is an easy procedure that you can use to update your SQL Management Studio installation.

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.

The SSMS repair works in most situations because it basically uninstalls the old files and re-installs them. Repairing SSMS is the first thing you must perform to address issues such as crashing or abruptly closing of studio application.

What is SQL Server Management Studio?

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.

Starting with SSMS version 18.7, the Azure Data Studio component is automatically installed along SQL Server Management Studio. Azure Data Studio is a cross-platform database tool for data professionals using on-premises and cloud data platforms on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

SQL Server Management Studio is a tool used by SQL developers and database admins who typically work on databases. The SSMS tool can connect to your remote SQL server and allow you to perform several tasks.

You can use SSMS to query, design, and manage your databases and data warehouses. These databases could be on your local on your local computer, or in the cloud.

Do SCCM Admins use SQL SSMS?

Yes, SCCM admins typically use SQL Server Management Studio to connect to SQL Server and access ConfigMgr database. Admins also run SQL queries against the CM database and get the information out of database.

As a best practice, SCCM admins shouldn’t log in to SQL server to perform administrative tasks on a daily basis. Instead, most of the tasks can be managed by installing SSMS on individual laptops.

You can also download the latest version of SSMS installer, package and deploy the SQL Server Management studio using SCCM or Configuration Manager.

When you install SQL Server 2019 for ConfigMgr, you have to manually download and install SQL Server Management Studio.

Download Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

You can download the latest version of SQL Server Management studio from Microsoft site. Microsoft keeps updating the SSMS versions, and it is recommended that you download the latest one.

There is a preview version of SSMS available on the download page. Preview versions of SSMS aren’t stable and shouldn’t be installed on production servers or workstations.

To install the SQL Management studio, run the SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe file and follow the wizard for installation. A reboot may be required to complete the installation of SSMS.

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 on the computer.
• Uninstall – Select this option to uninstall SQL Server Management Studio from the computer.
• Close – Cancels the Repair SSMS or Uninstall process.

Click Repair.

After a few minutes, the SSMS repair completes. Your computer must restart after you repair SSMS. Click Restart.

SSMS Setup Help Switches

You can also repair SSMS using command line. The command line switches should be used only by expert users who know about the management studio and SQL server.

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 /? to find all the switches.

• /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 and 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.