How can I drop all indexes in a SQL database with one command?

Question

So, how can I drop all indexes in a SQL database with one command? I have this command that will get me all the 20 or so drop statements, but how can I run all of those drop s

Answer 1

The "Final Draft" that OP posts as part of his question errors out if there are already zero indexes on any table in the DB. I needed to fix that.

Also, I wanted more control over the process than dropping all indexes on all tables, so I wrote the following stored proc to do it one table at a time:

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_DropAllIndexesOnTable]

@TableName varchar(1000)

AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;

   DECLARE @DropCommand1 nvarchar(4000)
   DECLARE @DropCommand2 nvarchar(4000)

--Create Temp Table to hold the names and table names of all Clustered Indexes
    SELECT o.name AS TableName, i.name AS IndexName
      INTO #AllClustered
      FROM sys.indexes i 
INNER JOIN sys.objects o ON i.object_id=o.object_id
     WHERE o.type <> 'S'
       AND is_primary_key = 1

--Create Temp Table to hold the names and table names of all NonClustered Indexes
    SELECT o.name AS TableName, i.name AS IndexName
      INTO #AllNonClustered
      FROM sys.indexes i 
INNER JOIN sys.objects o ON i.object_id=o.object_id
     WHERE o.type <> 'S'
       AND is_primary_key <> 1 
       AND index_id > 0

--Create DROP CONSTRAINT command for the Primary Key Constraint if there is one
    SELECT @DropCommand1 = ( SELECT 'ALTER TABLE dbo.['+ TableName +'] DROP CONSTRAINT ['+ IndexName +'];'
                               FROM #AllClustered
                              WHERE TableName = @TableName
                                FOR xml path('') ); 

--Create DROP INDEX command for the indexes on the table if there are any 
    SELECT @DropCommand2 = ( SELECT 'DROP INDEX [' + IndexName + '] ON dbo.['+ TableName +'];'
                               FROM #AllNonClustered
                              WHERE TableName = @TableName
                                FOR xml path('') );

        IF (@DropCommand1 IS NULL AND @DropCommand2 IS NULL) PRINT 'No action taken, zero indexes found on table ' + @TableName
        IF @DropCommand1 IS NOT NULL EXEC sp_executesql @DropCommand1
        IF @DropCommand2 IS NOT NULL EXEC sp_executesql @DropCommand2

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #AllClustered
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #AllNonClustered

END
GO

I cycle through the specific tables in my DB which I want to drop indexes on using a loop, and I drop the indexes by calling this proc with the table name, and recreate better ones right after. This way, only one table at a time has no indexes.

The reason I do this and the number of tables I do it on would make your head spin, but I definitely needed a proc like this!