Where is my SQL Server Configuration Manager?

If you are running Windows 8 and above, you might have found out that you can’t find SQL Server Configuration Manager in the list of installed applications.   This is because SQL Server Configuration Manager is not a stand-alone program, and therefore doesn’t appear as an application in newer versions of Windows.   The SQL Server Configuration Manager is a Microsoft Management Console snap-in.

You can find the SQL Server Configuration Manager snap-in in the C:\Windows\SysWow64 directory, as shown below.

SQL Server Configuration Manager
SQL Server Configuration Manager

Here I have two different versions of the SQL Server Manager snap-in on my machine.  One for SQL Server 2014 (SQLServerManager12.msc) and one SQL Server 2016 (SQLServerManager13.msc). 

All it takes to get SQL Server Configuration Manager to show up in the start menu or taskbar is to right click on the snap-in and then select “Pin to Start” or “Pin to taskbar” options, as shown below.

“Pin to Start” or “Pin to taskbar”
“Pin to Start” or “Pin to taskbar”

More information about the SQL Server Configuration Manager can be found on this page: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174212.aspx

See all articles by Greg Larsen

Gregory Larsen
Gregory Larsen
Gregory A. Larsen is a DBA at Washington State Department of Health (DOH). Greg is responsible for maintaining SQL Server and other database management software. Greg works with customers and developers to design and implement database changes, and solve database/application related problems. Greg builds homegrown solutions to simplify and streamline common database management tasks, such as capacity management.

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