SSMS – Utility of ‘Navigate to’ (Ctrl+,) Feature

sql serverssms

In standard Visual Studio 2012 or higher, IDE window called Navigate to… (Ctrl+,) offers all useful objects in scope of currently open project (see samples) getting increasingly filtered as I am typing so I can quickly navigate to what I need without expanding the tree with hundreds of items.

The same Navigate to… I can find in SQL Server Management Studio 2014 (perhaps since SSMS 2012?) but as I type, I can see only some backup files in SSMS %TEMP% directory. Is this everything what can be get from Navigate to…?

I would like to see it offering me names of tables, stored procedures and SQL functions etc. so I can jump to them in Object Explorer or view their definition. Any tricks to make Navigate to… more useful in the SSMS?

(Currently I have SSMS 2014 connecting to SQL Server 2008 R2.)

Note: I'm aware of various ways of navigating in SSMS, but now I would like to learn more about Navigate to… which is convenient typing-oriented search&go tool.

Best Answer

In SSMS 2016, Navigate To... is gone.

So the answer is that temporary presence of non-functioning Navigate To... feature in SSMS 2014 looks like forgotten artifact of adopting SSMS to Visual Studio platform. Perhaps we should seek nothing more serious behind it.

Comment: SSMS 2016 seems to be much more polished, it fixes many weird technical and design errors seen in SSMS 2014, including non-standard keyboard shortcuts. After leaving good SSMS 2008 and 3-of-5-stars experience with SSMS 2014 I recommend installing standalone SSMS 2016, which can get 4.5. They even can be installed and used side-by-side, if someone is hesitant to uninstall that 2014 thing on the first day. So far, I found only one issue with SSMS 2016.