The error '`Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18456 `' means that the user used to login to SQL Server Management Studio is invalid. Now you can log out of Windows, login as the user you just granted rights to and all should work fine.Hello thank you for reaching out. You can then confirm you have sa rights by double-clicking the user name in the left Object Explorer and clicking on Securables Type in the Windows User Name you would like to add as an SQL Administrator then click Check Names (or you can click advanced and select from a list)Ĭlick Server Roles in the left pane then turn on the sysadmin checkbox, then click OK Launch SQL Server Management Studio again and you should be able to ConnectĮxpand your ServerName, then Expand Security, then Logins. Now that you are logged into Windows with an account that has access to connect to SQL Server, Let’s go in and grant rights to the user that you want to be able to use to access SQL Server. Try logging onto windows with that account that is Built-in account for administering then we can grant rights to the user you want to use to login to SQL Server. Notice under Description… There is a Built-in account for administering… This is very likely an account that has access to SQL server. In the upper right corner, click Tools, then Computer ManagementĮxpand Local Users and Groups (Under Computer Management-System Tools) then click Users Launch Server Manager – Start – Click Server Manager To get a list of users on the machine (Assuming Windows Server 2012 or above) Step-By-Step Usually this is the user that you logged in with when you installed SQL Server or the user that is the default administrator on the computer. You need to figure out what user does have rights to SQL server. In the below screen shot, I am logging into Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio with a user that does not have administrative permissions to connect to the server. Video is short but has additional tips and tricks so watch the video to get the FULL STORY! The generic message “Login Failed for User (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18456)” means you entered invalid credentials when logging into SQL Server. In this post (and video), I will teach you how to determine what user has administrative rights on the server as well as walk you Step-By-Step how to configure SQL Server to allow other users to login as Administrators to SQL Server.

Tagged GURU-Tip / How To / SQL Server / Step-By-Step

Login failed for user sql error 18456