---
title: Previous versions of SQL Server documentation
description: How to get online and offline documentation for previous versions of SQL Server, including 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2014.
ms.service: sql
ms.subservice: install
ms.topic: conceptual
author: markingmyname
ms.author: maghan
ms.reviewer: ""
ms.date: 08/12/2020
monikerRange: ">= aps-pdw-2016 || = azuresqldb-current || = azure-sqldw-latest || >= sql-server-2016 || >= sql-server-linux-2017"
---

# Previous versions of SQL Server documentation

The documentation for several older versions of Microsoft SQL Server has been archived. This article describes how to access documentation for previous versions in both online and offline formats.

## Online documentation

To access the online documentation for SQL Server 2005 - 2014, see the following landing page:

- [SQL Server previous versions documentation](/previous-versions/sql/).

## Offline documentation

To access offline content for SQL Server versions 2012 and later, see the following article:

- [Install SQL Server documentation to view offline in SSMS](sql-server-offline-documentation.md).

> [!IMPORTANT]
> SQL 2014 Transact-SQL content is only available [offline](../sql-server/sql-server-offline-documentation.md#sql-server-2014-offline-content).

## Lifecycle policy

Review the Microsoft Product Lifecycle for information about how a specific product, service, or technology is supported:

- [Microsoft Lifecycle Policy](https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/selectindex)

For specific guidance on your options for SQL Server end of support, see the following article:

- [SQL Server end of support options](../sql-server/end-of-support/sql-server-end-of-support-overview.md)

## Next steps

- [SQL Server 2016-2019 online documentation](../sql-server/index.yml)
- [SQL Server docs navigation guide](../sql-server/sql-docs-navigation-guide.md)