SQL Server Management Studio

Never say never again: Keeping Your SSMS Server List Safe in 2026

Posted by Jens Vestergaard on in Programming 1 Comment

Twelve years ago 🤯 I wrote a quick post about never losing your server list in SSMS again. The short version was: copy one file, stay sane. The file was called SqlStudio.bin, and the trick still works today if you are on an old enough version.

But if you are running SSMS 19, 20, 21 or 22 on Windows 11, the file is gone. The settings have moved, and the format has changed. The principle is the same, but the file you need to grab is different.

Here is the updated version for 2026.

What Changed

In the older versions of SSMS, the registered server list was stored in a binary file:

C:\Users\<PROFILE>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\<VERSION>\SqlStudio.bin

From SSMS 19 onwards, the file you want is:

C:\Users\<PROFILE>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\<VERSION>\UserSettings.xml

Same idea, different file, plain XML instead of binary. That last part is actually an improvement: you can open it, read it, and understand what is in there before you copy it anywhere.

Where to Find It

On Windows 11, with SSMS installed and a server list you want to keep, navigate to:

C:\Users\<your Windows username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\

You will see one folder per installed SSMS version. I currently have four:

  • 19\
  • 20\
  • 21\
  • 22\

Inside each one, look for UserSettings.xml. That is the file that holds your registered servers.

The AppData folder is hidden by default in Windows 11. If you do not see it in Explorer, type the full path into the address bar, or go to View > Show > Hidden items.

What to Do With It

The same logic as 2014 applies:

  1. Make a copy of UserSettings.xml from your current machine.
  2. Store it somewhere you can get to it: OneDrive, a network share, a USB drive, wherever works for you.
  3. On a fresh install, copy the file into the correct version folder before opening SSMS.

SSMS reads the file on startup. If the file is in place when SSMS opens, your registered servers appear as if you never left.

If you have multiple SSMS versions installed side by side and maintain different server lists in each, you need a separate copy per version. They do not share the file.

One Thing Worth Knowing

The file is XML, so you can also merge server lists manually if you need to combine two environments into one. I have not done this in a scripted way, but looking at the structure it is readable enough that it would not take long to figure out.

If you are already using Azure Data Studio instead of or alongside SSMS, the settings are stored differently again. That is a separate post.

The short version: the file changed, the folder structure stayed the same, and the trick still works. Copy UserSettings.xml before you reinstall anything.