I have seen many people ask for ways to delete entries from SSMS' "Connect to Server" server name list. The short and official answer is, you can't. There is an unofficial answer, though.
Right now you have an all-or-nothing approach. In SQL Server 2005, you can shut down SSMS, delete the file mru.dat, and restart SSMS. For SQL Server 2008, you need to find the file SqlStudio.bin, and do the same thing. The next time you open SSMS, the list should be empty.
My biggest concern is that this method is not documented (and therefore not supported), and it is unclear what other settings you might lose when doing so.
I tried looking at SqlStudio.bin with a hex editor, and it's clear that while we can see the entries, we aren't meant to modify them. In turn, I posted suggestion #424800 to Microsoft via Connect, asking them to expose the MRU list to us and make it easier to manage. So far, no dice.
Thanks
@Paul: Why is it a long dead post? With Microsoft, things never get fixed. I am still having this problem as are many others. They just dont fix problems anymore – much like the bug they introduced with SQL Server 2005 "SSIS" and its inability to deal with variable width input files while DTS could handle it with no problem.
I know this is a long dead post, but it is possible.
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/vb/AlterSQL2005MRU.aspx
Thanks for the update Bill! The additional information is appreciated.
Hi Aaron, The other things that you lose with this approach includes SSMS specific Tools | Options settings, OE Details List View Customizations, the MRU list for OE Details Search, and MRU for Reports.
Cheers,
Bill Ramos
Yet another annoying thing about SQL Studio. I really wonder if the people who created studio have ever worked in a production environment.
Thank you.