--- title: Creating custom views using SSMS Query Designer. description: This article explains how to create a custom database view in SQL Server Management Studio. --- [Skip to content](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/create-a-view-using-ssms-query-designer#main-content) [Go to Customer Portal](https://hub.acctivate.com/tickets?hsLang=en) ![Acctivate - A CAI Solution](https://hub.acctivate.com/hubfs/Images/Logos/acctivate-cai-logo-svg.svg) - [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles) - [Go to Customer Portal](https://hub.acctivate.com/tickets) - [Support Resources / Create Ticket](https://acctivate.com/support) [Support Resources / Create Ticket](https://acctivate.com/support) Hello. How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles?hsLang=en) 2. [Database](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/database?hsLang=en) 3. [Microsoft SQL Server](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/database?hsLang=en#microsoft-sql-server) April 11, 2025 # Creating custom views using SSMS Query Designer. ## This article explains how to create a custom database view in SQL Server Management Studio. When you install SQL Server Management Studio, it comes with a lot of very helpful database tools. The **Query Designer** is a way to build **Select** statements that can then be placed into custom views in your database. These views can be used to pull reports using Crystal Reports or [Microsoft Excel Query](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/how-do-i-create-a-microsoft-query-from-excel?hsLang=en). **To Access SSMS Query Designer:** 1. Open **SQL Server Management Studio**; login with the ‘sa’ user or windows credentials (if set up). 2. **Expand** the database you are wanting to create the view on. In our case, we are using the ‘ACCTivate$Demo’ database that comes with the Acctivate installation. 3. **Right click** on the Views folder and **Select** to create a **New View**. ![ssmsquerynew1](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew1-3.png) 4. You will then see a new tab appear with a temporary view name. **To Create the Query:** 1. **Select** the Views tab to show all available Database Views to pull from. *We suggest using Database Views instead of Tables for Data Security and Integrity reasons.* ![ssmsquerynew2](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew2.png) 1. **Select** the [Views](https://help.acctivate.com/learn/reports/views/) you would like to pull into the Query Designer. You can select more than one by holding the **CTRL** key. For this example, I chose Product, ProductSupplier, and ProductWarehouseSummary. 2. Now that you have the Views selected that you would like to pull fields from, you need to **join** the views together based on common fields. We suggest using **GUID** values to join the tables since those values are completely unique. In my example, I have joined ProductSupplier and ProductWarehouseSummary to Product through an INNER JOIN on GUIDProduct.  ![ssmsquerynew3](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew3-1.png) 3. Next, **Select** the fields that you would like to show in your view. Notice how the SQL statement updates with your changes to the designer.  ![ssmsquerynew4](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew4.png) **To Create the View:** 1. Once you are done with selecting the Views and Fields you would like to see in your new View, close the window by clicking X. 2. A dialog box will then appear asking you to save the view. **Select YES**.  ![ssmsquerynew5](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew5.png) 3. Then you will be asked to choose a name for your view. We suggest using an underscore at the beginning of the name to denote that this is a custom view created for this database.  ![ssmsquerynew6](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/SSMSQueryNew6.png) 4. 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