DROP CERTIFICATE (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2008) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![no](media/no.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![yes](media/yes.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

Removes a certificate from the database.

[!IMPORTANT]
A backup of the certificate used for database encryption should be retained even if the encryption is no longer enabled on a database. Even though the database is not encrypted anymore, parts of the transaction log may still remain protected, and the certificate may be needed for some operations until the full backup of the database is performed. The certificate is also needed to be able to restore from the backups created at the time the database was encrypted.

Topic link icon Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

DROP CERTIFICATE certificate_name

Arguments

certificate_name
Is the unique name by which the certificate is known in the database.

Remarks

Certificates can only be dropped if no entities are associated with them.

Permissions

Requires CONTROL permission on the certificate.

Examples

The following example drops the certificate Shipping04 from the AdventureWorks database.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
DROP CERTIFICATE Shipping04;

Examples: [!INCLUDEssPDW]

The following example drops the certificate Shipping04.

USE master;  
DROP CERTIFICATE Shipping04;