Uninstall Microsoft SQL Server 2025 from Windows

Microsoft SQL Server is a powerful relational database management system (RDBMS). Applications and tools connect directly to a SQL Server instance or database and interact with it using Transact-SQL (T-SQL). You can run SQL Server on Windows or Linux, deploy it in Linux containers, or host it on an Azure Virtual Machine or any other supported VM platform. In this article, we shall discuss how to Uninstall Microsoft SQL Server 2025 from Windows. Please, see “how to install Endpoint Configuration Manager on HyperV VM, and Upgrade Veeam Backup and Replication v12.3 to v13 on Windows“.

To uninstall a SQL Server failover cluster, use the Remove Node functionality provided by SQL Server Setup to remove each node individually

Also, see how to download and install the Windows ADK Patches, how to uninstall Applications with PowerShell Script, and SQL Server 2025 Upgrade Requirements and Compatibility.

Prerequisite for removing SQL Server 2025

Below are some of the consideration when you decide to remove SQL Server from your machine. To uninstall SQL Server, you must be a local administrator with permissions to log on as a service. Please, see how to install and access all Editions of Microsoft SQL Server 2025.

Note: If your server has the minimum required amount of physical memory, increase the size of the page file to two times the amount of physical memory. Insufficient virtual memory can result in an incomplete removal of SQL Server.

On a system with multiple instances of SQL Server, the SQL Server browser service is uninstalled only once the last instance of SQL Server is removed. The SQL Server Browser service can be removed manually using the same procedure as removing SQL Server. So, after the removal of SQL Server, you may still see this service in the program When you click on it after fulfilling the required, it will be gone.

Uninstalling SQL Server deletes tempdb data files that were added during the install process. Files with tempdb_mssql_*.ndf name pattern are deleted if they exist in the system database directory.

Please, see Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure and Application Security Best Practices, and How to uninstall Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

Recommendation Before Uninstalling SQL Server

Before uninstalling SQL Server, I will recommended you to back up all critical data to avoid configuration loss or service disruption. You should:

Perform full backups of all databases, including:
- User databases
- System databases such as:
  - master – stores essential server-level information including logins, endpoints, linked servers, and system-wide configuration.
  - msdb – contains SQL Server Agent jobs, backup history, maintenance plans, and scheduling information.
  - model – template used for new databases (optional but recommended).
  - tempdb – recreated automatically, no need to back up.
If full backups are not possible, manually copy the .mdf and .ldf files for each database to a secure separate location. These files can help with recovery if the uninstall process removes or corrupts existing data.

Taking these precautions ensures that all system-level configurations, jobs, maintenance tasks, and user data can be restored if needed after reinstallation or migration

Uninstall MSSQL

Before proceeding with the uninstallation, it is recommended to stop all SQL Server services. Active connections can prevent successful uninstallation.

When this is done, you can then proceed to uninstall as shown below. You can use the Windows Settings or Control panel. I will be suing the Control Panel.

In my case, I will select Microsoft SQL Server 2025 (64-bit), an click on Uninstall. In the SQL Server 2025 wizard, click on “Remove”.

On the Select instance page, use the dropdown list to specify an instance of SQL Server to remove, or specify the option to remove only the SQL Server shared features and management tools. We only have one instance as you can see. To continue, select Next