In SQL Server, how do I save the results of a query to a txt file?

In SQL Server, how do I export the results of a query to a txt file. I tried tools>options>results to file. But this appears to have saved the Messages the query generated instead of the Results the query generated.

Options:

• Use sqlcmd at the command line to execute your SQL statement; the results will arrive as text and can be trivially saved.

• See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/425379/how-to-export-data-as-csv-format-from-sql-server-using-sqlcmd

• Use bcp at the command line to execute your SQL statement with the "queryout" parameter.

• Use SSMS to grid as you are, right-click the upper left cell of the results pane and use the Save Results As... option

• Use SSMS to file; this will of course save the file on the machine SSMS is running on. Tools->Options->Results to file is where you set options like delimiter, maximum size, and so on. Instead, you want Query->Results To->Results to File or Ctrl-Shift-F (by default)

• Other non-SQL ways like Powershell or any application language or MS Access or Excel with a DSN data source or SSIS or many many many other ways.

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#320355, answer score: 8