Why is SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Intellisense not working

Question

I m being driven to insanity trying to figure out why Intellisense just fails to work at all  The server I m using is local and is 2008  the database is set to 2008 compatibility  Intellisense is on in every menu I can find  and yet no member list will pop up even with a CTRL-J   Has anyone experienced something like this and found a way to fix it  I really can t bring myself to start work unless I have Intellisense working

User · Answer

I ended up fixing it by reinstalling SQL Server 2008  This wasn t at all optimal  but if someone comes across a similar problem be sure to know this route will probably work

User · Answer

I did all of the above and ultimately gave up  Then one last resort was a third part SQL Intellisense add-on I found SQL Complete Express by devArt   It s Intellisense plus more  Intellisense is back and all is well   Supports SSMS 2005 - 2012 also includes Visual Studio Add-In   SQL Complete

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I recently wrote a tip about troubleshooting IntelliSense  The title says SQL Server 2012 but most of the techniques can be applied to earlier versions of Management Studio as well   http   www mssqltips com sqlservertip 2591 troubleshooting-intellisense-in-sql-server-management-studio-2012

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I understand this post is old but if anybody is still searching and has not found a solution to the intellisense issue even after re-installing  applying the cumulative updates  or other methods  then I hope I may be of assistance    I have Applied SQL 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 which you can download here  http   www microsoft com download en details aspx id 26727  32 Bit  SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x86-ENU exe  64 Bit  SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x64-ENU exe  I have applied this SP1 and now my intellisense works again  I hope this helps

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I just the had same problem   I figured out that Intellisense stopped working after I took some databases offline and doing an Intellisense refresh  Ctrl-Shift-R    I brought the offline databases back online  did a refresh  Ctl-Shft-R  again and VOILA  Intellisense is working again   What a crappy design  Maybe the population of Intellisense s lists chokes when a database exists but is offline  Thanks Microsoft

User · Answer

Here is the official word on this from MS       http   support microsoft com kb 2531482  Their solution is the same as above  install the SQL Server 2008 R2 updates with the version 10 50 1777 0   http   support microsoft com kb 2507770

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Same problem  but just re-installing SQL Management Studio 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 worked for me  I left my DB engine alone   The DB engine is not the problem  just SQL Management Studio getting hosed by Visual Studio SP1   Installers here     http   www microsoft com download en details aspx displaylang en amp id 26727  I installed SQLManagementStudio x86 ENU exe  32 bit for my machine

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I don t want to suggest a product out of turn  since getting Intellisense running is probably the best option  but I ve struggled with the accursed no intellisense on Management Studio for months   Reinstallation  CU7 update  refreshing caches  sacrificing chickens to pagan gods  nothing has helped   I was about to pay for RedGate s SqlPrompt  pretty damned pricey   195 US   when I found SqlComplete   http   www devart com dbforge sql sqlcomplete  gclid CN2xs Lw7akCFcYZHAodpicXXw  There is a free version which does the basics  and the full version is only  50   I m a database architect  and while I can remember the commands  auto complete saves me heaps of time   If you re stuck and can t get Intellisense to work  try SqlComplete   It saved me hours of hassle

User · Answer

Visual Studio 2010 SP1 breaks  SSMS 2008 R2 s IntelliSense  There is a connect about that  and fortunately there is also a fix for that    In short  you will need to install Cumulative Update package 7 for SQL Server 2008 R2 by requesting SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x86or  SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x64  from this hotfix request page    EDIT  As  Paul Lemke noted  one might need to get the latest CU package  This blog contains the SQL server releases   As of this writing  the latest is CU14

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After finding this thread  I discovered that my Intellisense only broke after taking a database offline  and any offline database s  on the instance would kill Intellisense   In this thread  explaining that in order to restore Intellisense  you must    take the necessary databases offline  then  restart the server instance  and finally  refresh the Intellisense cache    This procedure has worked for me and Intellisense is now working again

User · Answer

I m posting this here as I am sure more people will be comeing across this issue  I installed Security Update for microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1  KB2565057  and lost Intellisense in SQL Server Management studio 2008  not R2    An uninstall of the SP restored Intellisense    Don t you just love Microsoft

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When trying the accepted answer  I was getting an installation error  A failure was detected for a previous installation  patch  or repair blah  blah  blah    To fix this  in my registry  I changed all DWORD values to 1 in the following Keys   As always be careful modifying the registry and create a backup of the key  before changing anything  HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server 100 ConfigurationState HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server MSAS10 50 MSSQLSERVER ConfigurationState HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server MSRS10 50 MSSQLSERVER ConfigurationState HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server MSSQL10 SQLEXPRESS ConfigurationState HKLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server MSSQL10 50 MSSQLSERVER ConfigurationState See my full post about Fixing Intellisense issue in SSMS

User · Answer

For SQL Server 2008 R2  installing Cumulative Update 7 will fix the problem  The file you need is  SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x86 or   SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x64  I also had to uninstall and re-install SQL Server 2008 first  which didn t fix it  but the CU did    this is Direct Link From MS that i was got it Hot Fix

User · Answer

For SQL Server 2008 R2  installing Cumulative Update 7 will fix the problem  The file you need is   SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x86 or SQLServer2008R2 RTM CU7 2507770 10 50 1777 x64  I also had to uninstall and re-install SQL Server 2008 first  which didn t fix it  but the CU did

User · Answer

I ve had the same problem too   Searched everywhere online and can t find a solution   I did install Redgate s SQL Prompt which functions similarly to Intellisense  so maybe there was a conflict   I ve since stopped the Prompt from running  but now no intellisense at all   Using SQL Server 2008 will SQLCMD mode off  no luck at all   This has happened before  a reinstall of SQL Server was the only thing that I could get to work

User · Answer

No need to reinstall   Click on the setup file  Then go to maintenance and click on Repair  This should correct the intellisense problem

User · Answer

I tried all the fixes - taking databases offline and then bringing them online  installed Cumulative update 10  repaired SQL Server Installation  refreshed local cache  made changes to the required settings on SQL Server Management Studio but everything was in vain  Finally installing the correct service pack  SP1  did the trick for me     Follow the link below  and download SQLServer2008R2SP1-KB2528583-x86-ENU exe  or the x64 file for a x64 bit instance of SQL Server   http   www microsoft com download en details aspx id 26727   Finally i have Intellisense enabled

[sql-server-2008] Why is SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Intellisense not working?

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