How to delete data and free up space in SQL Server?

To delete data from SQL Server and free up space, follow these steps:

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to the database server.
2. Navigate to the database in the file explorer and locate the table containing the data to be deleted.
3. Right-click on the table and choose “Edit Top 200 Rows”.
4. In the results pane, you can select the rows you want to delete by holding down Ctrl and clicking on each row with the mouse.
5. Right-click on the selected row and choose “Delete Top 200 Rows”.
6. In the delete rows dialog box, confirm the number of rows you want to delete and select OK.
7. After the deletion operation is executed, you can choose to “close window” to close the editing window.
8. To free up space for deleted data, you can utilize one of the following methods:
9. Reorganize the table: right click on the table, select “Tasks” -> “Reorganize Data and Index”.
10. Shrink database: Right-click on the database, then select “Tasks” -> “Shrink” -> “Database”.
11. Shrink files: Right-click on the database, choose “Tasks” -> “Shrink” -> “File”.
12. Choose the appropriate options and settings as needed, then proceed with the operation.

Please note that deleting data and freeing up space is a sensitive operation that must be carefully executed. Before proceeding, please ensure that the database has been backed up to prevent data loss.