MS SQL Server - LIMIT clause

In this article, we would like to show you how to use LIMIT clause in MS SQL Server.

Quick solution:

SELECT [column1], [column2], ...
FROM [table_name]
WHERE condition
LIMIT number
OFFSET number;

Practical example

To show how the LIMIT clause works, we will use the following table:

Note:

At the end of this article you can find database preparation SQL queries.

Example 1

In this example, we will display all information about the first two users.

Query:

SELECT * 
FROM [users] 
LIMIT 2;

Output:

Example 2

In this example, we will also display all information about users limited to 2, but this time we set an OFFSET to skip the first user.

Query:

SELECT * 
FROM [users] 
LIMIT 2
OFFSET 1;

Output:

Database preparation

create_tables.sql file:

CREATE TABLE [users] (
	[id] INT IDENTITY(1,1),
	[name] VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
	[role] VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL,
	PRIMARY KEY ([id])
);

insert_data.sql file:

INSERT INTO [users]
	([name], [role])
VALUES
	('John', 'admin'),
	('Chris', 'moderator'),
	('Kate', 'user'),
	('Denis', 'moderator');