List Tables That May Be Over Indexed

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