How to check your SQL Server version

SQL Server gets its own updates, separate from Windows. Which one is for your server depends on two things: the SQL Server version (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 or 2025) and the servicing branch the server is on (GDR or CU).

The quickest way: a query

Connect to the server with SQL Server Management Studio, Azure Data Studio or sqlcmd, and run:

> SELECT @@VERSION;

The first line names the version and the build, for example Microsoft SQL Server 2025 (RTM-CU9) (KB5122048) - 17.0.5005.3. For the build and the update level alone:

> SELECT SERVERPROPERTY('ProductVersion') AS Build,>        SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel') AS Level,>        SERVERPROPERTY('ProductUpdateLevel') AS UpdateLevel;

These queries print version numbers only, nothing about your databases or users.

GDR or CU branch?

Microsoft ships two lines of updates for each version:

• GDR: security fixes only, on Patch Tuesday. @@VERSION shows GDR without a CU number, for example (RTM-GDR) or (SP3-GDR).
• CU: a cumulative update about every one or two months with fixes beyond security, plus a "CU + GDR" security update on Patch Tuesday. @@VERSION shows the CU number, for example (RTM-CU9) or (RTM-CU8-GDR).

The build tells you too:

A server on the GDR branch can move to the CU branch by installing a cumulative update; after that it gets the CU line of updates.

End of support

SQL Server 2016 no longer gets public security updates: the last one was released on July 14, 2026.