How to: Remove Tables from Queries
You can remove a table — or any table-valued object — from the query.
Note
Removing a table or table-valued object does not delete anything from the database; it only removes it from the current query. For details about removing a table from a database, see How to: Delete Tables from a Database.
Note
Your computer might show different names or locations for some of the Visual Studio user interface elements in the following instructions. The Visual Studio edition that you have and the settings that you use determine these elements. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.
To remove a table or table-structured object
In the Diagram Pane, select the table, view, user-defined function, synonym, or query, and then press DELETE, or right-click the object and then choose Remove in the resulting dialog box. You can select and remove multiple objects at one time.
–or–
Remove all references to the object in the SQL Pane.
When you remove a table or table-valued object, the Query and View Designer automatically removes joins that involve that table or table-valued object and removes references to the object's columns in the SQL pane and Criteria Pane. However, if the query contains complex expressions involving the object, the object is not automatically removed until all references to it are removed.