Drop a Database Snapshot (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server

Dropping a database snapshot deletes the database snapshot from SQL Server and deletes the sparse files that are used by the snapshot. When you drop a database snapshot, all user connections to it are terminated.

Any user with DROP DATABASE permissions can drop a database snapshot.

To drop a database snapshot

1. Identify the database snapshot that you want to drop. You can view the snapshots on a database in SQL Server Management Studio. For more information, see View a Database Snapshot (SQL Server).

2. Issue a DROP DATABASE statement, specifying the name of the database snapshot to be dropped. The syntax is as follows:

   DROP DATABASE database_snapshot_name [ ,...n ]

   Where database_snapshot_name is the name of the database snapshot to be dropped.

This example drops a database snapshot named SalesSnapshot0600, without affecting the source database.

DROP DATABASE SalesSnapshot0600 ;  

Any user connections to SalesSnapshot0600 are terminated, and all of the NTFS file system sparse files used by the snapshot are deleted.

• Create a Database Snapshot (Transact-SQL)

• View a Database Snapshot (SQL Server)

• Revert a Database to a Database Snapshot

DROP DATABASE (Transact-SQL)
Database Snapshots (SQL Server)