Quick SQL Server Management Studio tip: edit more than 200 lines of table data

If you have been using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) for a long time, you will probably remember the time from few years back where you would have the feature to load a full table into the manager, and edit them all if you wanted.

Now with SSMS version 2008 and onwards, the command to do this is called "Edit Top 200 Rows", but as the command name says, by default you can only edit 200 first lines. This can cause the occasional scare at times: where did my data go? Luckily, the data is still in the table, but you just cannot see it. At least by default.

What seems to go missing by many users is that you can easily change the limit of 200 to something else, usually larger. In SSMS, look to the right for the Properties panel (press F4 if you cannot see it). At the bottom of this panel, you have the setting that says "Top Specification". You can simply disable this setting, or change the value. Remember to re-execute your query by pressing the red exclamation mark on the toolbar or by pressing F5.

If you find yourself constantly changing the value to something else, a better way is to go to SSMS' options window and change the settings under "SQL Server Object Explorer/Commands". There is the setting "Value for Edit Top <n> Rows command", for instance.