drop-column-encryption-key-transact-sql.md

title	DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
description	DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
author	jaszymas
ms.author	jaszymas
ms.date	10/15/2019
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	t-sql
ms.topic	reference
f1_keywords	DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY DROP_COLUMN_ENCRYPTION_TSQL DROP_COLUMN_ENCRYPTION_KEY_TSQL
helpviewer_keywords	DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY statement column encryption key, drop
dev_langs	TSQL

DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE sqlserver2016-asdb-asdbmi]

Drops a column encryption key from a database.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY key_name [;]  

Arguments

key_name
Is the name by which the column encryption key to be dropped from the database.

Remarks

A column encryption key cannot be dropped if it is used to encrypt any column in the database. All columns using the column encryption key must first be dropped.

Permissions

Requires ALTER ANY COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY permission on the database.

Examples

A. Dropping a column encryption key

The following example drops a column encryption key called MyCEK.

DROP COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY MyCEK;  
GO  

See Also

CREATE COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
ALTER COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY (Transact-SQL)
CREATE COLUMN MASTER KEY (Transact-SQL)
Always Encrypted
Always Encrypted with secure enclaves
Overview of Key Management for Always Encrypted
Manage keys for Always Encrypted with secure enclaves