Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server

Version: 18.5.1.1
Date: March 17, 2025

Download ODBC driver

ODBC is the primary native data access API for applications written in C and C++ for SQL Server. There's an ODBC driver for most data sources. Other languages that can use ODBC include COBOL, Perl, PHP, and Python. ODBC is widely used in data integration scenarios.

The ODBC driver comes with tools such as sqlcmd and bcp. The sqlcmd utility lets you run Transact-SQL statements, system procedures, and SQL scripts. The bcp utility bulk copies data between an instance of Microsoft SQL Server and a data file in a format you choose. You can use bcp to import many new rows into SQL Server tables or to export data out of tables into data files.

The following sample demonstrates how to use the ODBC APIs to connect to and access a database:

• C++ code example, using ODBC

• Download ODBC driver

• Connection Resiliency

• Custom Keystore Providers

• Data Classification

• DSN and Connection String Keywords and Attributes

• SQL Server Native Client (the features available also apply, without OLEDB, to the ODBC Driver for SQL Server)

• Using Always Encrypted

• Using Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory)

• Using Transparent Network IP Resolution

• Using XA Transactions

• Connection Troubleshooting

• Installing the driver on Linux
• Installing the driver on macOS
• Connecting to SQL Server
• Connecting with bcp
• Connecting with sqlcmd
• Data Access Tracing
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Installing the Driver Manager
• Known Issues
• Programming Guidelines
• Release Notes
• Release Notes (mssql-tools)
• Support for High Availability and Disaster Recovery
• Using Integrated Authentication (Kerberos)

• Asynchronous Execution (Notification Method) Sample
• Driver-Aware Connection Pooling
• Features and Behavior Changes
• Release Notes for ODBC to SQL Server on Windows
• System Requirements, Installation, and Driver Files

• SQL Server Drivers blog