Documentation

Step by step: install the Virtual Folders add-in in SQL Server Management Studio 22. Unblock the zip, extract it into the Extensions folder, restart SSMS.

Step by step: install the Virtual Folders add-in in SQL Server Management Studio 21. Unblock the zip, extract it into the Extensions folder, restart SSMS.

Step by step: install the Virtual Folders add-in in SQL Server Management Studio 20. Unblock the zip, extract it into the Extensions folder, restart SSMS.

SSMS shows every database in one long list. Group databases, tables and jobs into your own folders in the Object Explorer with the Virtual Folders add-in.

Create a virtual folder in the SSMS Object Explorer, choose which databases, tables or jobs it shows, and decide who can see it.

Virtual folders exist only inside SSMS. Nothing changes on your SQL Server; the folders are kept in a table you choose.

Virtual folders are kept in tempdb by default and are lost when SQL Server restarts. Store them in a database of your choice instead.

Use (Click here to filter) in the SSMS Object Explorer: type several names separated by ;, use % and _ as wildcards, or switch the box off.

Predefined SQL Server Agent folders for disabled, replication and Reporting Services jobs.

The Options page shows "Error loading property page". The files were blocked by Windows.

Fixes the Virtual Folders error Cannot open database ... VFP02x, which appears when SSMS shows a database as (Synchronized) or (Read-Only).

Install SQLTreeo Compare, run your first schema comparison and generate a deployment script.

Command line switches of SqlCompare-win-Setup.exe, silent installation for deployment tools, log locations and the exit codes the installer returns.

Find every schema difference between two SQL Server databases: tables, columns, indexes, procedures and permissions. A T-SQL check and the full comparison.

Check whether Development, Test and Acceptance still match Production: find schema drift across all SQL Server environments of a DTAP (OTAP) street in one comparison.

Find the rows that differ between two SQL Server databases: missing rows, extra rows and changed values. With EXCEPT in T-SQL, or for all tables at once.

Compare sp_configure settings, trace flags, logins, Agent jobs, Database Mail and database options between two SQL Server instances, and script the differences.

Check that two SQL Server instances have the same Agent jobs, operators and logins, for example availability group replicas, and script what is missing.

Compare sp_configure settings, trace flags, logins, Agent and database options of one reference SQL Server with all your other instances, in one matrix.

Fail a build or raise an alert when a SQL Server database drifts from its reference, with the sqlcompare command line in GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps.

Run schema, server and data comparisons from CI pipelines with the sqlcompare command.

Find which tables, rows and objects changed since a backup was made: restore or copy the backup into a scratch database, then compare it with the live one.

How the 30-day trial works, what stays free afterwards and how to activate a license key for SQLTreeo Compare.

Find stored procedures, views, functions and triggers that exist on one side only or differ between two SQL Server databases: T-SQL and SQLTreeo Compare.

Environment variables that turn on timing logs, stack traces and other diagnostics.

Install SQLTreeo Job Timeline, add your first SQL Server instance and find your way in the seven views of its Agent jobs.

Switches of JobTimeline-win-Setup.exe, silent installation for deployment tools and the Microsoft Store, log locations and the installer exit codes.

Add tens or hundreds of SQL Server instances in one run: from a list or file, a Central Management Server, SSMS, the network or availability groups.

Find SQL Server Agent jobs that run at the same time: a T-SQL query on msdb for one server, and the Rhythm view of SQLTreeo Job Timeline for all servers.

Find SQL Server Agent jobs that take longer than usual: a T-SQL query on msdb, and the baseline rule SQLTreeo Job Timeline uses for every job.

How availability group jobs are shown and compared: instance jobs per replica with its role, the Replicas view, contained groups and failovers.

How the 30-day trial of SQLTreeo Job Timeline works, what stays free afterwards, and how to activate a purchased license key.

What is read from a SQL Server instance, the permissions that takes, a script for a dedicated read-only login, and what stays on your computer.

Why SQL Server Agent keeps little job history, what the local archive holds, and the exact rule that decides when a run is long.

The plain-text diagnostics report: where it is, what is in it, what is never in it, replacing names by placeholders, and how to send it.

Why SQL Server Agent keeps only a few days of job history, how to see how far back it goes, how to raise the limits, and how to keep a longer record.

Install SQLTreeo Restore, open a SQL Server .bak file without a SQL Server, look at its tables and rows, and export or copy only the tables you need.

SQLTreeo Restore has no trial: looking at backups is free, export and copy write 1,000 rows per table until you enter a license key.

A .bak file cannot be read in Notepad or Excel. Three ways to see what is inside a SQL Server backup: T-SQL metadata, a free instance, or SQLTreeo Restore.

SQL Server cannot restore one table from a .bak file. The T-SQL way: restore under another name and copy it. Or copy just the table with SQLTreeo Restore.

A TDE backup can only be restored where its certificate and private key are. How to find the certificate, back it up and use it to open the backup.

Read a SQL Server backup file with RESTORE HEADERONLY and RESTORE FILELISTONLY: what the columns mean, how to pick a backup set, and what they cannot show.