DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** SQL Server (starting with 2016) Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Data Warehouse Parallel Data Warehouse

Drops a column encryption key from a database.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

  
DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY key_name [;]  

Arguments

key_name
Is the name by which the column encryption key to be dropped from the database.

Remarks

A column encryption key cannot be dropped if it is used to encrypt any column in the database. All columns using the column encryption key must first be dropped.

Permissions

Requires ALTER ANY COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY permission on the database.

Examples

A. Dropping a column encryption key

The following example drops a column encryption key called MyCEK.

DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY MyCEK;  
GO  

See Also

Always Encrypted (Database Engine)
CREATE COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
ALTER COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
CREATE COLUMN MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)