SQL Server 2019 end of life and end of support
Mainstream support for SQL Server 2019 ended on 28 February 2025. It receives security fixes until 8 January 2030, which leaves time to plan the next upgrade properly.
Status on 3 October 2026
- SQL Server 2019
- Supported
- Security fixes
- Ends 8 January 2030
- Released
- 4 November 2019
- Mainstream support ended
- 28 February 2025582 days ago
- Security fixes end
- 8 January 20301,193 days from today
Dates come from the Microsoft product lifecycle; check there before relying on them for a decision.
What ends, and what carries on
Mainstream support for SQL Server 2019 ended on 28 February 2025. Microsoft no longer improves it or fixes ordinary bugs in it. Security fixes continue until 8 January 2030, and that is the date on which support ends altogether.
In practice this matters only if you hit a fault in the database engine that is not a security problem, which is uncommon for an established application.
So this is not urgent. The job is to keep the server patched and decide when the next move happens.
What it means for the applications that use the database
- It may not be behaving like 2019. For a long time SQL Server 2019 was the sensible version to upgrade older databases to. A database that arrived from 2008, 2012 or 2014 may still be set to the compatibility level of the version it came from. That is worth knowing before the next upgrade, because it explains how queries are being handled today, and raising it is a change to test on its own.
- New work should aim higher. An upgrade or new server planned from here should go to SQL Server 2022 or 2025, not to 2019.
- Edition features need checking. Express, Standard and Enterprise editions differ in the features they include and in their limits, and what each edition includes changes between versions. So do the components around the engine, such as Reporting Services and Integration Services. List what the application uses and check each item against the version and edition you intend to move to.
- The operating system underneath. A server built for SQL Server 2019 is often on Windows Server 2019, which has its own end date. See the Windows Server dates.
Your options
Stay on SQL Server 2019. A reasonable choice until 8 January 2030, provided updates are installed.
Upgrade to SQL Server 2022. It is in mainstream support until 11 January 2028 and receives security fixes until 11 January 2033.
Upgrade to SQL Server 2025. The longest life of the three, with security fixes until 6 January 2036. Check first that the drivers, reporting tools and third-party products the application relies on support it.
Move to a hosted database. If the server is due for replacement, moving the database to the cloud removes the hardware from the question. See cloud migration.
What we would check first
We would record four things: the edition, the features in use, the compatibility level of each database and whether updates are being applied. Together they show how much work the next upgrade will be.
When the time comes, the method is the same as for any SQL Server upgrade: restore a copy onto the new version, run the application against it and compare the results and the timings. If the database is slow already, our database performance service is the place to start.
Get a reminder
SQL Server 2019 stops receiving security fixes on 8 January 2030. Put the date where you will see it.
Add a reminder to your calendarNot sure where SQL Server 2019 is still running?
Most organisations find more copies than they expected. Two ways to find out, depending on how much you want to know.
Check which version you have
The dates are the same for every edition: Enterprise, Standard, Web, Developer and Express. A free Express instance goes out of support on the same day as a licensed one.
How to check every productRun this query against each database server. The first two numbers of the product version identify the release.
SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS Version, SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') AS Edition;| Version starts with | Product |
|---|---|
| 10.0 or 10.50 | SQL Server 2008 or 2008 R2 |
| 11.0 | SQL Server 2012 |
| 12.0 | SQL Server 2014 |
| 13.0 | SQL Server 2016 |
| 14.0 | SQL Server 2017 |
| 15.0 | SQL Server 2019 |
| 16.0 | SQL Server 2022 |
| 17.0 | SQL Server 2025 |
When it is not yours to upgrade
The copy of SQL Server most often missed is one you never chose. Accounting packages, door-entry and CCTV systems, telephone systems, backup tools and label printers commonly install SQL Server Express for their own use, and it stays at the version the product shipped with.
You cannot upgrade those yourself without risking the product that owns them. Ask each vendor which SQL Server versions the release you run is supported on, and whether a newer release of their product moves it for you. If the vendor has gone, that product has become unsupported software in its own right.
Making the case for the work
An upgrade nobody outside IT can see is easy to defer. These are the reasons that tend to move it up the list.
- Cyber Essentials
- The scheme requires software in scope to be supported by its vendor. Anything past its end-of-support date has to be removed, or cut off from the internet, before you can certify or renew.
- Cyber insurance
- Proposal forms commonly ask whether you run unsupported software. Check what yours asked, and what you answered.
- Customer questionnaires
- Larger customers ask the same question of their suppliers. An honest "yes, and here is the plan" is a better answer than a late discovery.
- Personal data
- UK data protection law expects appropriate technical measures to protect personal data. Software that can no longer be patched is hard to square with that.
- The cost of waiting
- An upgrade done to a deadline, after something has failed, costs more than the same upgrade planned. Where Microsoft sells a paid security extension, its price has risen each year it runs.
- Official guidance
- The National Cyber Security Centre is blunt: "The only fully effective way to mitigate this risk is to stop using the obsolete product." See its guidance on obsolete products.
What we do and do not sell: we do not sell Microsoft licences or Extended Security Updates, so we have no stake in which version you choose. Our part is the application: finding what depends on the old version, testing it against the new one and fixing what breaks.
Supported versions to move to
How long each would keep you in support. All SQL Server versions
| Version | Released | Mainstream support ended | Security fixes end | Status today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SQL Server 2022 | 16 November 2022 | 11 January 2028 | 11 January 2033 | Supported |
| SQL Server 2025 | 18 November 2025 | 6 January 2031 | 6 January 2036 | Supported |
Questions we are asked
When does SQL Server 2019 reach end of life?
Extended support ends on 8 January 2030. Mainstream support ended on 28 February 2025, so SQL Server 2019 receives security fixes only.
Will SQL Server 2019 stop working after January 2030?
No. The database carries on running. What stops on 8 January 2030 is the security fixes, so any vulnerability found afterwards stays open.
Is there extended support for SQL Server 2019?
SQL Server 2019 is in extended support, which means security fixes only, until 8 January 2030. Microsoft has not announced paid Extended Security Updates for the period after that date.
Should we upgrade an older database to SQL Server 2019?
No. SQL Server 2019 was the usual upgrade target for years, but it is out of mainstream support. An upgrade from an older version should go to SQL Server 2022 or 2025 so that the work lasts longer.
Do we need to upgrade from SQL Server 2019 yet?
No. It receives security fixes until 8 January 2030. The sensible time to move is when the server is being replaced or the application is being changed anyway, and before the end date.
Running a version that is out of support?
Tell us which version, what depends on it and how it is hosted. We will set out the upgrade route and what it is likely to involve.