CURRENT_USER (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2008) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![yes](media/yes.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

This function returns the name of the current user. This function is equivalent to USER_NAME().

Topic link icon Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

CURRENT_USER

Return types

sysname

Remarks

CURRENT_USER returns the name of the current security context. If CURRENT_USER executes after a call to EXECUTE AS switches context, CURRENT_USER will return the name of the impersonated context. If a Windows principal accessed the database by way of membership in a group, CURRENT_USER will return the name of the Windows principal instead of the group name.

See SUSER_NAME (Transact-SQL) and SYSTEM_USER (Transact-SQL) to learn about how to return the login of the current user.

Examples

A. Using CURRENT_USER to return the current user name

This example returns the name of the current user.

SELECT CURRENT_USER;  
GO

B. Using CURRENT_USER as a DEFAULT constraint

This example creates a table that uses CURRENT_USER as a DEFAULT constraint, for the order_person column, on a sales row.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
IF EXISTS (SELECT TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES  
      WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'orders22')  
   DROP TABLE orders22;  
GO  
SET NOCOUNT ON;  
CREATE TABLE orders22  
(  
order_id int IDENTITY(1000, 1) NOT NULL,
cust_id  int NOT NULL,
order_date smalldatetime NOT NULL DEFAULT GETDATE(),
order_amt money NOT NULL,
order_person char(30) NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_USER
);  
GO

This example inserts a record in the table. The user named Wanida executes these statements.

INSERT orders22 (cust_id, order_amt)  
VALUES (5105, 577.95);  
GO  
SET NOCOUNT OFF;  
GO

This query selects all information from the orders22 table.

SELECT * FROM orders22;  
GO

Here is the result set.

order_id    cust_id     order_date           order_amt    order_person
----------- ----------- -------------------- ------------ ------------
1000        5105        2005-04-03 23:34:00  577.95       Wanida
  
(1 row(s) affected)

C. Using CURRENT_USER from an impersonated context

In this example, user Wanida executes the following Transact\-SQL code.

SELECT CURRENT_USER;  
GO  
EXECUTE AS USER = 'Wanida';  
GO  
SELECT CURRENT_USER;  
GO  
REVERT;  
GO  
SELECT CURRENT_USER;  
GO