Bar chart of rows written for one move on a list of 1,000 items: moving the last item to the top writes 1,000 rows when renumbering, 1,000 when shifting and 1 with gaps; moving item 500 to position 100 writes 1,000, 401 and 1; moving item 10 up one place writes 1,000, 2 and 1

Reordering a List in SQL Server: Move One Row, Write One Row

Reordering a list in SQL Server means changing a sort key, and the best design writes the fewest rows. This post compares three designs for dragging an item to a new place: renumber everything, shift the rows in between, and leave gaps. Each one is measured by rows written on a list of 1,000 items. Every result comes from SQL Server 2025.

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