How to Execute Query Without Using F5 or Query Toolbar in SSMS? – Interview Question of the Week #224

Question: Can you execute an SSMS query without F5 or the Execute toolbar button? Yes. The Query menu and the editor’s context menu offer Execute, and older SSMS versions also exposed the command through the toolbar’s Find/Command box.

During private training, an attendee asked for a less familiar way to run a query. We already knew F5, the Execute button, Query > Execute, and right-clicking a selected query to choose Execute. The question was whether SSMS had another route.

Here is the little trick I showed in the 2019 article. With the query window active, use the toolbar Find/Command box and enter >Query.Execute, including the greater-than sign, then press Enter.

The screenshot matters here because it shows which box I meant. Toolbar search and command surfaces have changed across SSMS versions. If your version doesn’t offer this route, use Query > Execute or inspect the Query.Execute command’s keyboard binding in Tools > Options > Environment > Keyboard.

This doesn’t make anyone a better DBA. I simply enjoy finding a small feature I hadn’t noticed. Do you have an SSMS trick that made you say, “How long has that been there?”

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