How to Recover Deleted Data From SQL Server Table — Complete Guide

Alex Mark
5 min readDec 4, 2020

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Learn simple and effective techniques to recover deleted data from SQL Server table with or without backup.

Accidental data deletion in MS SQL Server is the most annoying problem that can occur anytime by any user. Sometimes, while managing and maintaining the huge databases SQL server data are deleted by mistake, due to which users face many serious issues. No matter how many precautions you take but the accidental data deletion is unavoidable. So to make sure, that all your crucial data remains safe, we always suggest taking a backup of your data regularly. If a recent database backup is available then you can easily restore deleted data back to their initial state. But in case, if you do not have database backup? It becomes a challenging task for the user to recover deleted data from SQL Server table.

If you are tangled up in such a situation, do not need to worry. Here in this post, we are going to discuss the best possible solutions to recover deleted table data from SQL Server with/without backup.

Ways to Recover Deleted Data From SQL Server Table

You can achieve this task in two different ways- first, you can restore your whole database back to its initial state if you have a recent backup of your database. Keep in mind, this process will take a lot of time, depending upon the size of the backup. Furthermore, if your previous SQL database files and database objects have been corrupt or damaged due to some reason, then this process would not work.

Another method is to use a reliable third-party tool, that will restore the deleted tables and other Database objects for you in just a few minutes. Let’s understand both the approaches in a detailed manner:

Approach #1. Recover Deleted Data From SQL Server Table (with backup)

Follow the below-given instructions to restore the deleted table data from the .bak file of SQL Server:

Step 1. Run SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) on your machine and connect to the database.

Step 2. Now, right-click on the database and then click Tasks>>Restore.

Step 3. Afterward, select the restoration source from under Source for restore.

Step 4. On the specified backup page, add your database backup file.

Step 5. Here, click on the OK button to restore the backup file.

Step 6. Here, set the restoration destination under the Options tab and then finally press the OK.

Note: This method can only be performed with the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

Approach #2. Professional Way to Recover Deleted Data From SQL Server Table (without backup)

If you want an easy and fast solution to recover deleted table data from SQL Server then you can take the help of an Enterprise-Grade Level professional SQL Recovery tool. This tool has the potential to recover permanently deleted tables without losing a single bit of data. By using this software, the user can also recover the deleted table records and other database objects without any hassle. This tool shows the preview of the deleted data in red color so that it can be easily placeable by the user.

Also, by using this software users can easily recover deleted table data from damaged or corrupt SQL database files. The graphical user interface of this tool is simple and self-explanatory so that a novice user can easily use it. Moreover, it is compatible with Microsoft SQL Server version 2019, 2017, 2016, and all it’s below versions.

Follow the given steps to recover deleted table data from MS SQL Server

Step 1. Download and run the application on your system and click on the Open to load the SQL database file (.mdf file).

Add MDF file

Step 2. Select Advance Scan mode to recover deleted data from SQL Server table and choose the SQL Server version of the selected SQL database .mdf file either manually or automatically. Users can check the checkbox corresponding to the Recover Deleted Objects option.

Step 3. Once the scanning of the database file gets completed, the tool provides a preview of all deleted database objects in Red color. Afterward, click on the Export button to migrate the recovered data items.

Step 4. Here, fill the export details accordingly and then select the required database objects from the export window.

Fill Export details

Step 5. Check the Recover Deleted Objects checkbox in order to recover deleted table from SQL Server and finally press the click OK.

Wrapping Up

Well, in this technical post, we have discussed two methods to recover deleted data from SQL Server table, the manual method and a professional method. The manual approach comes with some limitations and not appropriate if users do not have a healthy backup of their databases. So, we always recommend you to go for the best alternate solution to restore permanently deleted data from the SQL Server without backup. The user needs to use the advance scanning mode to recovers deleted data, and directly export the recovered data to live SQL Server environment or as SQL Compatible Scripts in a single shout without losing a bit of information.

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Alex Mark
Alex Mark

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