Shortcut to Show and Hide SSMS Results Pane

By: MSSQLTips | Comments (4) | Related: > SQL Server Management Studio Shortcuts

Problem

When using SSMS the query window is usually made up of the Editor on the top half and after you execute code, the Results are displayed on the bottom half. The problem with this is that if you need to modify the code in the Editor section the display is limited because the results pane takes up the bottom half of the window. You could resize the results section, but in this tip we look at a simple shortcut to show and hide the results pane.

Solution

Using Shortcut Keys

In older versions of SSMS, the simple solution is to use the Ctrl+R shortcut to toggle between showing and hiding the results pane.

Here is a sample query window in SSMS with just the Editor section.

After we execute the code, half of the screen is now taken up by the Results pane.

toggle between showing and hiding the results pane when using ssms

If we just use Ctrl+R we can toggle between showing and hiding the results pane and therefore you can see more of the Editor section when you are using SQL Server Management Studio.

Using SSMS Menus

In some versions of SSMS, the shortcut no longer exists, so you have to use the menus. Window > Hide Results Pane (or Show Results Pane) as shown below.

Next Steps

More SQL Server Management Studio Tips

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MSSQLTips.com was started in 2006 to provide SQL Server content about various aspects of SQL Server and other database platforms.

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Comments For This Article

Saturday, January 23, 2021 - 6:23:13 AM - Farid ABDI

Every time I go to a new job or new pc, I have to reset the results toggling and commenting short cut keys. More time lost due to Microsoft.
As SQL Server is about Microsoft's last great to find that even in SSMS Microsoft's new product versions are worse than old the old ones, makes me think of Linux or taking up gardening as a job.
The word "upgrade" has become something for Microsoft customers to dread rather than enthuse about.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020 - 10:35:22 PM - Irabala	Back To Top (87923)
Try this and it is working fine. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17068661/ctrlr-does-not-hide-the-query-result-window-in-ssms

Tuesday, August 27, 2019 - 10:22:16 AM - Greg Robidoux

Hi Jeff,

It looks like this an older version of SSMS 11.0.5058.0 where it does not work.

I just tried in SSMS 17.91.1 and it does work. I'll update the tip again.

I guess Microsoft had the option, took it out and put it back in again. This was first written in 2011 and Ctrl+R worked back then.

Thanks for pointing this out.

-Greg

Monday, August 26, 2019 - 5:33:06 PM - Jeff Moden	Back To Top (82144)
What version of SSMS are you running where {Ctrl-R} doesn't work? I ask because it works fine in SSMS 18.2 and 17.9.