Take the 2-minute tour ×

I'm using the SQL Server 2008 R2 version of the Database diagram tool. Search as I might, I can't seem to find a way to rename tables in the UI. Is this really not possible? Renaming a column is easy, but the only way I've been able to "rename" a tables is to recreate it with the new name, make the appropriate foreign key relationships, and then delete the old table.

thanks, Sylvia

share|improve this question
I just use SQL Management Studio to rename tables. –  Daryl Nov 9 '11 at 15:49

3 Answers 3

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Nope you can't do that..however just click on the table in Object explorer, hit F2 and rename it

share|improve this answer
+1 but since you've left the Diagram tool (what the user asked about) you could also mention sp_rename, although the Object explorer experience is much closer to the diagram tool than sp_rename –  Conrad Frix Nov 9 '11 at 17:11
This is actually better than what I was doing before. The key for me was to close the database diagram before doing the rename. That way when it opens up, it just gives you a message about the table being dropped, then you can re-add it, with a minimum of problems. I was getting messy errors when I left the database diagram tool open during the rename –  Sylvia Nov 10 '11 at 7:57

Yes, you can rename table in the Diagram tool. If you select the table, you can change the table's name in the Properties pane. If you do not see the Properties pane, simply press F4 and it should automatically appear on the right side of the Studio Manager.

The top section of Properties is (Identity) and Name is the first property. Simply change the value of the Name property and save.

share|improve this answer

It is possible to rename the table. We can change the name of existed table by following code.

EXECUTE sp_rename 'oldTableName' , 'newTableName'

EXECUTE sp_rename 'tb1' , 'tb2'

It really work try it.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer


