SQL Server Management Studio connection defaults to 'master' when selecting a database-specific object

Question

In SQL Server 2008 R2 Management Studio, if I right-click on an object inside a specific database and choose "Select top 1000 rows ..", the database connection for the query window always opens on 'master' while the table name is fully qualified as [database].[dbo].[table]. This makes it impossible to jump in and tweak out this query and insert joins, etc., to the statement without also fully-qualifying everything I add, or add a USE statement, or select the database from the drop-down menu.

Is there a setting or something that will make query windows open with a database connection of the selected object browser's database rather than connect to 'master', and not fully qualify the object's database in the query text? I realize that I can register my SQL connection to default to my database, but we actually go through multiple new databases every week--in a given month I will have touched tens of databases--so it would be difficult to manage multiple database registrations. I would rather it if SSMS just connected to the specified database. Possible and straightforward?

Answer 1

If you are going in via Win Auth, are in a group, are using SA or some other userid, or are in a situation where changing your login is not really the solution, AND if all you wish to do is default to a database in the query editor:

• In an existing open query editor, right-click, select Connection, Change Connection.

• Click the Options button to expand the options.

• In the Connection Properties tab, select the database you wish to connect to.

SSMS will remember your selection for that server. You may have to repeat for other servers, but it does remedy having a default database other than master.