Following the rollout of SQL Server 2025 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) in August, Microsoft revealed its plans for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in September too. Among these for the upcoming release of SSMS 22, which received its third preview a couple of weeks ago. Now the Redmond tech giant has rolled out Preview 4 for SSMS 22.
Unlike Preview 3 which focused on Copilot integration, Preview 4 is a relatively smaller release which focuses on squashing bugs and improving the overall user experience (UX). Arguably, the items that you interact with everyday matter more to you than some AI features that you may use sparingly or occasionally.
To that end, SSMS 22 Preview 4 introduces a Reset button in the connection dialog, which clears certain fields in this form. Since SQL Server 2025 touts vector support for AI workloads greatly, it is good to see that Preview 4 supports the ability to create vector and JSON indexes. You can utilize this in Object Explorer by heading over to Indexes > New Index >Vector index. In the same UX, you"ll also be able to view more information about vector data types.
In the same vein, Microsoft has added snippet files for vector indexing, AI models, and security of schema objects. These can be accessed through Tools > Code Snippets Manager or by selecting the relevant option by right-clicking in your code script.
There are several fixes in tow too. Now, even when the results grid of your query is in focus but you hover your mouse to the query window, you can scroll the latter using your mouse wheel. Similarly, contrast issues in the status bar have been resolved as well. A very nifty improvement is a Help menu item called Clear Entra ID Token Cache, which does exactly what it says on the tin, allowing you to connect to your server using a new Entra ID token rather than using the one in the cache.
Other bugfixes revolve around the Generate Scripts Wizard, Available Databases, and Activity Monitor. You can find out more details in Microsoft"s blog post here.