
I often see developers executing the unplanned code on production server when they actually want to execute on the development server. Developers and DBAs get confused because when they use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) they forget to pay attention to the server they are connecting. It is very easy to fix this problem. You can select different color for a different server. Once you have different color for different server in the status bar, it will be easier for developer easily notice the server against which they are about to execute the script.
Personally when I work on SQL Server development, here is the color code, which I follow. I keep Green for my development server, blue for my staging server and red for my production server. Honestly color coding does not signify much but different color for different server is the key here.
More Tips on SSMS in SQL in Sixty Seconds:
- Generate Script for Schema and Data in SQL Server – SQL in Sixty Seconds #021
- Remove Debug Button in SQL Server Management Studio – SQL in Sixty Seconds #020
- Three Tricks to Comment T-SQL in SQL Server Management Studio – SQL in Sixty Seconds #019
- Importing CSV into SQL Server – SQL in Sixty Seconds #018
- Tricks to Replace SELECT * with Column Names – SQL in Sixty Seconds #017
I encourage you to submit your ideas for SQL in Sixty Seconds. We will try to accommodate as many as we can.
If we like your idea we promise to share with you educational material.
Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)












This is a great tip!
This was really interesting
This is a cool tip. very helpful. Thanks!!
Very good Tips. Thanks Pinal
This is a great idea. And there are third party downloads that can facilitate this as well (SSMSTools, SSMSBoost). However, however I’m wondering if you could take it a step further – Do you know where this setting is stored? I know it is on the machine where SSMS is installed as when you set it on one computer and then go to another, you have to reset this. Is there a way to change the setting for several of them at once – or an easier way to make the change without manually doing so on each server?
Debbie, if you use SSMSBoost to control color of the connection you can copy SSMSBoost settings file and share it between several machines. This way you take all your settings and preferred connections with you.
[...] Color Coding SQL Server Management Studio Status Bar – SQL in Sixty Seconds #023 – Video [...]
Can you say something about SQL Server DashBoard?
not working for me . Tried a lot.
[...] Color Coding SQL Server Management Studio Status Bar – SQL in Sixty Seconds #023 – Video [...]
[...] wrote about color coding of servers, using “use custom color” option, here and posted a video here which is available in connection properties [...]