SQL Server Find Columns by Data Type Across the Database

Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

"Where is every datetime column?" — "Which tables still use text instead of varchar(max)?" — "Are any columns using a deprecated user-defined type?" These are recurring DBA questions during schema audits, deprecation sweeps, and pre-migration assessments. This T-SQL script joins sys.columns to sys.types, sys.tables, and sys.schemas to produce the canonical answer: every column in the current database with its full type signature.

Purpose and Overview

Which columns survived the move from text to varchar(max)? Which fields still carry the deprecated Money_T UDT three releases after it was officially retired? Did a recent merge silently reintroduce datetime on a column the design review thought it had migrated to datetime2? A single catalog-view query against sys.columns and sys.types answers all three — and every other question of the form "where is every column of type X in this database?" — without an INFORMATION_SCHEMA round trip or a manual table-by-table sweep.

Sys.computed_columns on SQL Server Scripts

SQL Server Find Columns by Data Type Across the Database

Purpose and Overview