sql server management studio 2018 user setup

Question

sql server management studio 2018 user setup

Candace Snipes 20

how to set up user account and login for sql server management studio 2018 and connect to database

Ganesh Chelluri 190 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:49:49.39+00:00
Hello @Candace Snipes ,

Could you please clarify a few details so we can provide the correct setup steps?

Are you connecting to:

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server on-premises

SQL Server running on an Azure VM

Do you want to use:

SQL Authentication (username and password), or

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) Authentication?

What level of access does the user require?

Read-only

Read/Write

Administrative access

Do you already have the database and server name available?

Once you provide these details, we can share the appropriate SSMS 2018 connection steps and any required SQL commands.
Candace Snipes 20 Reputation points

2026-08-05T14:37:07.7066667+00:00
Thank you for your response.

I am connecting to SQL Server on my workstation.

I want to use SQL Authentication

I need administrative access

The database and server name are already defined.
Erland Sommarskog 136.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-05T15:09:22.8433333+00:00

So what happens when you try to connect?

When you installed SQL Server, you had to specify a Windows user that were to have admin access.

If you want to use SQL authentication, the Setup wizard gave you an option to enable this. But if you missed that part, no problem. Connect to the server in SSMS and go to the Object Explorer and connect to the server. Right-click the server itself and select Properties from the context menu. Select the Security page. Here you can enabled SQL authentication:

You need to restart SQL Server for the change to take effect.
Ganesh Chelluri 190 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-06T14:47:22.72+00:00
.Hi @Candace Snipes ,

Since you are connecting to SQL Server on your workstation using SQL Authentication and need administrative access, please follow these steps:

Enable SQL Authentication if it is not already enabled: Open SSMS with an existing administrator account, right-click the server, select Properties, go to Security, choose SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode, then restart the SQL Server service.

Create a SQL login: In SSMS, open New Query and run:

USE [master]; GO CREATE LOGIN [CandaceAdmin] WITH PASSWORD = '<Use_a_strong_password_here>'; GO

Grant administrative access: Run:

ALTER SERVER ROLE [sysadmin] ADD MEMBER [CandaceAdmin]; GO

Connect using SSMS: Server type: Database Engine
Server name: your defined server name, or localhost if it is local
Authentication: SQL Server Authentication
Login: CandaceAdmin
Password: password created above

Verify access: Run:

SELECT SYSTEM_USER AS LoginName; SELECT IS_SRVROLEMEMBER('sysadmin') AS IsSysAdmin;

If IsSysAdmin returns 1, the login has administrative access.

If connection fails, please share the exact error message and confirm SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode is enabled.

2 answers

Your answer

Ganesh Chelluri 190 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-09T23:49:49.39+00:00

Hello @Candace Snipes ,

Could you please clarify a few details so we can provide the correct setup steps?

Are you connecting to:

Azure SQL Database

Azure SQL Managed Instance

SQL Server on-premises

SQL Server running on an Azure VM

Do you want to use:

SQL Authentication (username and password), or

Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) Authentication?

What level of access does the user require?

Read-only

Read/Write

Administrative access

Do you already have the database and server name available?

Once you provide these details, we can share the appropriate SSMS 2018 connection steps and any required SQL commands.
Candace Snipes 20 Reputation points

2026-08-05T14:37:07.7066667+00:00

Thank you for your response.

I am connecting to SQL Server on my workstation.

I want to use SQL Authentication

I need administrative access

The database and server name are already defined.
Erland Sommarskog 136.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-08-05T15:09:22.8433333+00:00

So what happens when you try to connect?

When you installed SQL Server, you had to specify a Windows user that were to have admin access.

If you want to use SQL authentication, the Setup wizard gave you an option to enable this. But if you missed that part, no problem. Connect to the server in SSMS and go to the Object Explorer and connect to the server. Right-click the server itself and select Properties from the context menu. Select the Security page. Here you can enabled SQL authentication:

You need to restart SQL Server for the change to take effect.
Ganesh Chelluri 190 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-06T14:47:22.72+00:00

.Hi @Candace Snipes ,

Since you are connecting to SQL Server on your workstation using SQL Authentication and need administrative access, please follow these steps:

Enable SQL Authentication if it is not already enabled: Open SSMS with an existing administrator account, right-click the server, select Properties, go to Security, choose SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode, then restart the SQL Server service.

Create a SQL login: In SSMS, open New Query and run:

USE [master]; GO CREATE LOGIN [CandaceAdmin] WITH PASSWORD = '<Use_a_strong_password_here>'; GO

Grant administrative access: Run:

ALTER SERVER ROLE [sysadmin] ADD MEMBER [CandaceAdmin]; GO

Connect using SSMS: Server type: Database Engine
Server name: your defined server name, or localhost if it is local
Authentication: SQL Server Authentication
Login: CandaceAdmin
Password: password created above

Verify access: Run:

SELECT SYSTEM_USER AS LoginName; SELECT IS_SRVROLEMEMBER('sysadmin') AS IsSysAdmin;

If IsSysAdmin returns 1, the login has administrative access.

If connection fails, please share the exact error message and confirm SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode is enabled.

Answer 1

Hi @Candace Snipes s,

Sharing a general setup path so you have everything in one place. Note that there is no "SSMS 2018" release; the current version is SSMS 22.x and it works with all SQL Server and Azure SQL versions. Download it from the official Microsoft docs page for SQL Server Management Studio.

Install SSMS Run the installer, keep defaults, restart if prompted.
Have a database to connect to SSMS is only a client. You need either:

Azure SQL Database – create one via Azure portal → Create a resource → SQL Database → pick / create a server, database name, and set an admin login + password.
SQL Server on your machine / network – install SQL Server (Developer or Express edition is free).

Create the login/user (Azure SQL Database example, SQL Authentication) Connect to the server with the server admin, then in the master database:

CREATE LOGIN app_user WITH PASSWORD = 'StrongPassword!123';

Switch to your database and create the user + grant access:

CREATE USER app_user FOR LOGIN app_user;
ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER app_user;   -- read-only
ALTER ROLE db_datawriter ADD MEMBER app_user;   -- read/write
-- ALTER ROLE db_owner ADD MEMBER app_user;     -- admin on that DB only

Connect from SSMS Open SSMS → Connect → Database Engine:

Server name: yourservername.database.windows.net (Azure SQL) or SERVER\INSTANCE (on-prem).
Authentication: SQL Server Authentication (or Microsoft Entra ID – Password / Interactive if you use Entra).
Login / Password: the ones you created.
Click Options → Connection Properties → set Connect to database = your database name.

First-time firewall (Azure SQL Database only) If you get a firewall error on connect, SSMS will prompt you to sign in with an Azure account and add your client IP automatically, or you can add it from Azure portal → SQL server → Networking → Add your client IPv4 address.

If any part of this doesn't match your setup (on-prem vs Azure, SQL vs Entra auth, or a specific error message), share the exact error and one of us can point at the fix.Hi @Candace Snipes,

Sharing a general setup path so you have everything in one place. Note that there is no "SSMS 2018" release; the current version is SSMS 22.x and it works with all SQL Server and Azure SQL versions. Download it from the official Microsoft docs page for SQL Server Management Studio.

Install SSMS Run the installer, keep defaults, restart if prompted.
Have a database to connect to SSMS is only a client. You need either:

Azure SQL Database – create one via Azure portal → Create a resource → SQL Database → pick / create a server, database name, and set an admin login + password.
SQL Server on your machine / network – install SQL Server (Developer or Express edition is free).

Create the login/user (Azure SQL Database example, SQL Authentication) Connect to the server with the server admin, then in the master database:

CREATE LOGIN app_user WITH PASSWORD = 'StrongPassword!123';

Switch to your database and create the user + grant access:

CREATE USER app_user FOR LOGIN app_user;
ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER app_user;   -- read-only
ALTER ROLE db_datawriter ADD MEMBER app_user;   -- read/write
-- ALTER ROLE db_owner ADD MEMBER app_user;     -- admin on that DB only

Connect from SSMS Open SSMS → Connect → Database Engine:

Server name: yourservername.database.windows.net (Azure SQL) or SERVER\INSTANCE (on-prem).
Authentication: SQL Server Authentication (or Microsoft Entra ID – Password / Interactive if you use Entra).
Login / Password: the ones you created.
Click Options → Connection Properties → set Connect to database = your database name.

First-time firewall (Azure SQL Database only) If you get a firewall error on connect, SSMS will prompt you to sign in with an Azure account and add your client IP automatically, or you can add it from Azure portal → SQL server → Networking → Add your client IPv4 address.

If any part of this doesn't match your setup (on-prem vs Azure, SQL vs Entra auth, or a specific error message), share the exact error and one of us can point at the fix.

Ganesh Chelluri 190 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-09T02:25:21.9866667+00:00

Hi @Candace Snipes ,

I hope you had a chance to review the information shared earlier, and I hope this information has been helpful! If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered.

Answer 2

Erland Sommarskog 136.8K MVP Volunteer Moderator

There is no SQL Server Management Studio 2018. The most recent version is 22.7.2, which you can download here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/download-sql-server-management-studio-ssms.

It is not clear what you have. SSMS alone will take you nowhere. You either need to have SQL Server installed locally on your own computer or in your network. Or you need to have a database in Azure. For the latter you need to have an Azure account, and you create the database through the portal. There is a free offer that you take advantage off.

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