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Aaron Bertrand

Managing the MRU list for the "Connect to Server" dialog in SSMS

I have seen many people ask for ways to delete entries from SSMS' "Connect to Server" server name list.  The short and official answer is, you can't.  There is an unofficial answer, though.

Right now you have an all-or-nothing approach.  In SQL Server 2005, you can shut down SSMS, delete the file mru.dat, and restart SSMS.  For SQL Server 2008, you need to find the file SqlStudio.bin, and do the same thing.  The next time you open SSMS, the list should be empty.

My biggest concern is that this method is not documented (and therefore not supported), and it is unclear what other settings you might lose when doing so.

I tried looking at SqlStudio.bin with a hex editor, and it's clear that while we can see the entries, we aren't meant to modify them:

 

In turn, I have posted a suggestion to Microsoft via Connect, asking them to expose the MRU list to us and make it easier to manage:

http://is.gd/nRXw


Published Wednesday, March 18, 2009 11:55 AM by AaronBertrand

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SSIS Talk » SSMS - Trouble cleaning up your MRU server list in SSMS? said:

March 18, 2009 4:56 PM
 

Jason Haley said:

March 19, 2009 10:31 AM
 

R Bowers said:

Thank you.

March 19, 2009 5:29 PM
 

Steve said:

Yet another annoying thing about SQL Studio.  I really wonder if the people who created studio have ever worked in a production environment.

March 24, 2009 10:35 AM
 

billramo said:

Hi Aaron, The other things that you lose with this approach includes SSMS specific Tools | Options settings, OE Details List View Customizations, the MRU list for OE Details Search, and MRU for Reports.

Cheers,

Bill Ramos

March 30, 2009 7:11 PM
 

AaronBertrand said:

Thanks for the update Bill!  The additional information is appreciated.

March 30, 2009 7:13 PM
 

The Rambling DBA: Jonathan Kehayias said:

Update: While I was away, Aaron Bertrand already blogged about this topic on the following link: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2009/03/18/managing-the-mru-list-for-the-connect-to-server-dialog-in-ssms.aspx

April 20, 2009 9:41 PM
 

Aaron Bertrand said:

I'm going to try to do this weekly; bring attention to some Connect items that I or colleagues nearby

April 25, 2009 7:48 PM
 

SSMS – Trouble cleaning up your MRU server list in SSMS? | ButtonForums said:

August 11, 2009 9:34 PM

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