List Tables That May Be Over Indexed

By Lori Brown | Beginner

Apr 13

While not having enough indexes can be bad for query performance, having too many indexes can also be just as bad. Use the query below to get a list of tables in your database that has more than 10 indexes.

— Tables with large number of indexes

select t.name as TablesWithLargeNumInx, count(i.name) as CountIndexes

from sys.indexes i

inner join sys.tables t

on i.object_id = t.object_id

where i.index_id > 0

group by t.name

having count(i.name) > 10

If you suspect that you have too many indexes on your tables, you can also check the sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats dynamic management view to know if indexes on your heavily indexed tables are being used well. (Hint: seeks are good and scans are not so much)

select u.user_seeks, u.user_lookups, u.user_scans

from sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats u

inner join sys.indexes i

on u.object_id = i.object_id and u.index_id = i.index_id

WHERE u.object_id=object_id(‘dbo.SomeTableName’)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/system-dynamic-management-views/sys-dm-db-index-usage-stats-transact-sql

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About the Author

Lori is an avid runner, cross fitter and SQL enthusiast. She has been working for SQLRX for 15 years and has been working with SQL in general for 25 years. Yup...she is an old hand at this stuff.

  • Keep in mind this query is selecting every index, also the indexes being used for primary keys or constraints (don’t touch these!). I also recommend adding the column u.user_updates to compare the ratio between read and write. Final note: make sure the instance is running for several days (weeks?) before you make a decision about an index

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