How to connect to database using Server Explorer in Visual Studio
Steps to connect to your database using Server Explorer in Visual Studio Open Visual Studio, Select View → Server Explorer Right Click on Data Connections and select Add Connection... If you are not connected to a database from Server Explorer then you will need to select Microsoft Server as the data source. You can connect to either localDb ((localdb)\v11.0) or SQL Express ( ./SQLEXPRESS ), In my case I am connecting to SQLEXPRESS which is hosted my machine(MYNA) so the name will be “ MYNA\SQLEXPRESS ” and then select your existing database or you can define new database which will get created. Once you are done , You can check the database in the Server Explorer