Microsoft Releases SSMS 22 Preview 5 With GitHub Copilot Fixes

Microsoft has officially announced SQL Server Management Studio SSMS 22 Preview 5. And it comes with improvements and reliability updates for developers who use GitHub Copilot within SSMS.

This update fixes how Copilot assists in writing and editing T-SQL queries. The company recommends that everyone who uses SMSS to work around Copilot and experience improved AI-assisted coding experience. The company adds that Copilot works in real-time to streamline SQL script generation and editing.

Although this preview doesn’t come with major updates. Microsoft mentions 2025 as “transformative” year for SSMS. The company further credits Visual Studio 2022, and the Visual Studio 2026 (Preview) and SQL Server 2025 (Preview) releases as contributing factors to this year’s SSMS release schedule. 

Microsoft further notes, “We do not expect 2026 to have the same release cadence, and we’ll be working to find the right balance of delivering updates and new features without overwhelming organizations that prefer to stay on the latest build.”

Addressing confusion of users, Microsoft also clarified that its support policy for SSMS focuses only supporting the latest release. In other words, fixes and feature updates won’t be backported to older versions, as all improvements are made in the current or preview builds.

However, the company acknowledged that not every organization can upgrade immediately and assured that staying updated is necessary, but not mandatory.