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SQL SERVER – Disable Index – Enable Index – ALTER Index

Pinal Dave
SQL Performance
23 Comments

There are few requirements in real world when Index on table needs to be disabled and re-enabled afterwards. e.g. DTS, BCP, BULK INSERT etc. Index can be dropped and recreated. I prefer to disable the Index if I am going to re-enable it again. The script below shows how to disable index with ALTER INDEX and enable it with REBUILD.

SQL SERVER - Disable Index - Enable Index - ALTER Index

USE AdventureWorks
GO
----Diable Index
ALTER INDEX [IX_StoreContact_ContactTypeID] ON Sales.StoreContact DISABLE
GO
----Enable Index
ALTER INDEX [IX_StoreContact_ContactTypeID] ON Sales.StoreContact REBUILD
GO

Want to try this yourself? Here is how to install AdventureWorks.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.

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23 Comments. Leave new

  • Rick
    July 18, 2017 1:35 am

    Is there any way that we can drop the index without removing Foreign key?

    ERROR Message :
    Msg 3723, Level 16, State 6, Line 2
    An explicit DROP INDEX is not allowed on index ‘Index_name’. It is being used for FOREIGN KEY constraint enforcement.

    I know we can drop the foreign key and then re-create it but I’m dropping 1000s of Indexes and then re-create them all.
    So, I just want to make sure before doing it.

    Reply
  • Syam
    November 2, 2017 5:35 pm

    Sir, Same can be done for clustered index as well?

    Reply
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