Moving the tempdb database to another location

Here are the steps to move the tempdb to another location

1. Determine the logical and physical filename of tempdb using sp_helpfile

use tempdb
go
sp_helpfile
go

2. Now use the ALTER database and specify the FILENAME parameter to the location where you want to move each file.

USE master
GO
ALTER DATABASE tempdb
MODIFY FILE (name = tempdev, filename = 'D:\Data\tempdb.mdf')
GO
ALTER DATABASE tempdb
MODIFY FILE (name = templog, filename = 'D:\Data\templog.ldf')
GO

You will receive a message similar to the following “File 'tempdev' modified in sysaltfiles. Delete old file after restarting SQL Server.”

3. Stop and then restart SQL Server.

About The Author

Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of DotNetCurry, DNC Magazine for Developers, SQLServerCurry and DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books 51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and a new one recently at The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.

Suprotim has received the prestigous Microsoft MVP award for nine times in a row now. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that represents premium web sites and digital publications comprising of Professional web, windows, mobile and cloud developers, technical managers, and architects.

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