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What is a Filtered Index and when is it beneficial?

Entry MS SQL
Quick Answer A filtered index only indexes rows that match a WHERE condition. If 90% of your rows are "archived" and queries only touch "active" ones, a filtered index on IsActive = 1 is tiny, fast, and highly selective. Much cheaper than a full index and often a perfect fit for status or soft-delete columns.

Answer

A filtered index stores only rows matching a condition.

It reduces index size and improves seek performance for selective queries.

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This answer has been peer-reviewed by industry experts holding senior engineering roles to ensure technical accuracy and relevance for modern interview standards.

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Source: SugharaIQ

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