Database file shrink issue.

• Tac11

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  January 2, 2026 at 2:50 pm

  #4710789

  Hi experts,

  I have a 3+ TB database on a 2019 sql server which has more than 50% free space. I know database or data file shrink is not a good practice so please not go there, I tried with 100 mb in a loop which is taking much longer time so it's not feasible.

  Any suggestion BESIDES creating a new .ndf file ad then emptying the mdf file into the new file and then remove etc...

  Thanks in advance.

  • This topic was modified 3 hours, 48 minutes ago by Tac11.

• Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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  January 2, 2026 at 4:31 pm

  #4710823

  You are using DBCC SHRINKFILE?

  Shrinking just data files?

  Is this one ndf file that's grown or was sized too large?

  Is there a reason you can't let this run from a machine and let it take time to finish?