how to tell if an index is ever used [duplicate]

Question

I have some old tables with, what I think, are nearly worthless indexes. How can I easily be sure that are not ever being used before I drop them.

Answer 1

Based on Joe's answer I came up with this:

SELECT       row_number() over(order by user_seeks,user_lookups,user_scans),       [Database] = d.name,       [Schema]= s.name,       [Table]= o.name,       [Index]= x.name,       [Scans] = user_scans,       [Seeks] = user_seeks,       [Lookups] = user_lookups,       [Last Scan] = last_user_scan,       [System Scans] = system_scans FROM  sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats u INNER JOIN sys.sysdatabases d on u.database_id = d.dbid INNER JOIN sys.sysindexes x on u.object_id = x.id  and u.index_id = x.indid INNER JOIN sys.objects o on u.object_id = o.object_id INNER JOIN sys.schemas s on s.schema_id = o.schema_id where  x.name is not null order by 1 desc