---
description: "REVERSE (Transact-SQL)"
title: "REVERSE (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs"
ms.custom: ""
ms.date: "03/13/2017"
ms.prod: sql
ms.prod_service: "database-engine, sql-database, sql-data-warehouse, pdw"
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ms.technology: t-sql
ms.topic: reference
f1_keywords: 
  - "REVERSE_TSQL"
  - "REVERSE"
dev_langs: 
  - "TSQL"
helpviewer_keywords: 
  - "expressions [SQL Server], reverse"
  - "REVERSE function"
  - "reverse character expressions"
ms.assetid: 555d8877-7cc7-4955-ae2c-6215aca313b7
author: julieMSFT
ms.author: jrasnick
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---
# REVERSE (Transact-SQL)
[!INCLUDE [sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw](../../includes/applies-to-version/sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw.md)]

  Returns the reverse order of a string value.  
  
 ![Topic link icon](../../database-engine/configure-windows/media/topic-link.gif "Topic link icon") [Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions](../../t-sql/language-elements/transact-sql-syntax-conventions-transact-sql.md)  
  
## Syntax  
  
```syntaxsql  
REVERSE ( string_expression )  
```  
  
[!INCLUDE[sql-server-tsql-previous-offline-documentation](../../includes/sql-server-tsql-previous-offline-documentation.md)]

## Arguments
 *string_expression*  
 *string_expression* is an [expression](../../t-sql/language-elements/expressions-transact-sql.md) of a string or binary data type. *string_expression* can be a constant, variable, or column of either character or binary data.  
  
## Return Types  
 **varchar** or **nvarchar**  
  
## Remarks  
 *string_expression* must be of a data type that is implicitly convertible to **varchar**. Otherwise, use [CAST](../../t-sql/functions/cast-and-convert-transact-sql.md) to explicitly convert *string_expression*.  
  
## Supplementary Characters (Surrogate Pairs)  
 When using SC collations, the REVERSE function will not reverse the order of two halves of a surrogate pair.  
  
## Examples  
 The following example returns all contact first names with the characters reversed. This example uses the [!INCLUDE[ssSampleDBobject](../../includes/sssampledbobject-md.md)] database.  
  
```sql  
SELECT FirstName, REVERSE(FirstName) AS Reverse  
FROM Person.Person  
WHERE BusinessEntityID < 5  
ORDER BY FirstName;  
GO  
```  
  
 [!INCLUDE[ssResult](../../includes/ssresult-md.md)]  
  
 ```
FirstName      Reverse
-------------- --------------
Ken            neK
Rob            boR
Roberto        otreboR
Terri          irreT

(4 row(s) affected)
```  
  
 The following example reverses the characters in a variable.  
  
```sql
DECLARE @myvar VARCHAR(10);  
SET @myvar = 'sdrawkcaB';  
SELECT REVERSE(@myvar) AS Reversed ;  
GO  
```  
  
 The following example makes an implicit conversion from an **int** data type into **varchar** data type and then reverses the result.  
  
```sql
SELECT REVERSE(1234) AS Reversed ;  
GO  
```  
  
## Examples: [!INCLUDE[ssSDWfull](../../includes/sssdwfull-md.md)] and [!INCLUDE[ssPDW](../../includes/sspdw-md.md)]  
 The following example returns names of all databases, and the names with the characters reversed.  
  
```sql
SELECT name, REVERSE(name) FROM sys.databases;  
GO  
```  
  
## See Also  
 [CONCAT &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/concat-transact-sql.md)  
 [CONCAT_WS &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/concat-ws-transact-sql.md)  
 [FORMATMESSAGE &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/formatmessage-transact-sql.md)  
 [QUOTENAME &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/quotename-transact-sql.md)  
 [REPLACE &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/replace-transact-sql.md)  
 [STRING_AGG &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/string-agg-transact-sql.md)  
 [STRING_ESCAPE &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/string-escape-transact-sql.md)  
 [STUFF &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/stuff-transact-sql.md)  
 [TRANSLATE &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/translate-transact-sql.md)  
 [CAST and CONVERT &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/cast-and-convert-transact-sql.md)   
 [Data Types &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/data-types/data-types-transact-sql.md)   
 [String Functions &#40;Transact-SQL&#41;](../../t-sql/functions/string-functions-transact-sql.md)