Is it okay to shrink TempDB?

Question

In SQL Server 2005 and later versions, shrinking the tempdb database is no different than shrinking a user database except for the fact that tempdb resets to its configured size after each restart of the instance of SQL Server. It is safe to run shrink in tempdb while tempdb activity is ongoing.

Does TempDB affect performance?

Although this may be true on smaller, less active SQL Server instances, tempdb can significantly affect SQL Server's performance. DBAs can act to ensure that tempdb performance is optimized and to optimize the overall performance of SQL Server.

What happens if TempDB is full?

The TempDB database is special in many ways, but an interesting aspect is that when its files automatically grow when they become full, this growth is not persisted and will be undone on the next restart of the SQL Server service.

What size should the TempDB be?

TempDB should be sized based on the size of the drive it's on (and it should be on its own drive). Generally speaking you should have one TempDB file per CPU core (up to 8) and one TempDB_Log file.

What should I do if SQL Server TempDB is full?

CREATE the necessary space by dropping objects in the filegroup, adding additional files to the filegroup,or setting autogrowth on for existing files in the filegroup. When investigating a TempDB issue like this, most simply restart the SQL Server instance.

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