If we have large number of objects such as tables, views or stored procedure it is sometimes hard to find the exact object we are looking for. To make our life easier we could filter objects in SSMS object explorer to easily find what we want.
Let us use AdventureWorks database to make it easier. We want to find where the table where we store telephone number but we don’t know the exact name. To find our table open SQL Server Management Studio and in the Object Explorer expand AdventureWorks database. Right click on the Tables folder ->Filter -> Filter Settings.
We are now required to type the entire table name here. Since we assume we don’t know the telephone number table name I will just type “Phone” for the object Name. If we have multiple schemas and we know what the schema is we could provide that as well as the Owner and Creation Date. Then click on OK
Now that gives us two candidate tables and we could Pick our desired table Person.PersonPhone and include it in our query will be that easy.
To remove the filter right click on the Tables once again and Filter -> Remove Filter.
