Create and Alter Indexes

This topic focuses on information that may be unfamiliar to you. It does not include all step and field descriptions.

To create or alter index

Select the Indexes node in the Object Explorer.
Note: You can also right-click a table in the Tables node and select View Details | Indexes.
Select one of the following:
- Click to create an index.
- Select an index and click to create an index like the selected one.
- Select an index and click to alter it.

Complete the fields as necessary. Review the following for additional information:

General Page	Description
Available columns	Select a column and click to add it to the index. Note: You can also modify these columns from the Included Columns page.
Options Page	Description
Ignore duplicate values	Select True to insert any non-duplicate key values into the table and reject any duplicate values. If this option set to False, all values are rejected if any duplicate values are found.
Pad index	Select True to fill index according to specified fill factor. If this option set to False, the index is filled to near capacity, leaving at least one row that is the maximum size the index supports.
Fill factor	Select True and enter a percentage for the fill factor.
Filegroup	Select the filegroup where this index is stored.

Tips:

Right-click the object to see additional actions and tasks available for it.
- Right-click an index and select Tasks | <action> to enable, disable, check indexes or update their statistics.
- Right-click an index and select Tasks | Defragment Index to receive index statistics. See Defragment Indexes for more information.
(SQL Server 2012 and above) You can select Columnstore from the Index Type list in the General page. See the Microsoft^® Developer Network for more information on columnar indexes. Columnstore indexes are marked with icon.