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Version: 5.6

Microsoft SQL Server Performance Analysis

Launch SQL Server Profiler​

SQL Server Profiler in Management Studio

Filter Long-Running Queries​

Add a column filter, for example for the "Duration" column, to display all queries that take longer than 500 milliseconds.

Column Filter in SQL Server Profiler

Select a query from the log​

Select a query from the log and copy the query text.

Select a query from the Profiler log

Enable execution plan​

In Management Studio, click "New Query," paste the copied query text into a new query tab, and enable the "Include execution plan in output" option.

New query with execution plan enabled

Evaluate the execution plan​

After executing the query, an additional "Execution Plan" tab appears at the bottom.

Execution plan tab in Management Studio

In the execution plan, you can see detailed information about the individual operations of the SQL Server and their load. If applicable, you may also see warnings about missing indexes or similar issues here. This can help you determine why execution is taking a long time.

If your query is an UPDATE or INSERT, you may also see the associated trigger activities there. For a SELECT query, table joins and views, among other things, become visible.

Details in the execution plan