SQLLOCAL.exe cannot be found #sql

SqlLocalDB.exe is installed with SQL Server Express LocalDB. If it cannot be found, the supported fixes are:

1. Verify whether LocalDB is installed. Run:

      sqllocaldb info
   

   If sqllocaldb is not recognized, LocalDB is likely not installed, or its install location is not in PATH.
2. Install LocalDB. LocalDB can be installed through:
   • SQL Server Express setup
   • Visual Studio Installer by selecting the SQL Server Express LocalDB individual component or an appropriate data-development workload
3. If LocalDB is already installed but the command is still missing, run SqlLocalDB.exe from the installed SQL Server tools directory instead of relying on PATH.
4. After installation, confirm the available versions and instances:

      SqlLocalDB versions
      SqlLocalDB info
   

5. If an instance exists but will not start, check its status and start it:

      sqllocaldb info MSSQLLocalDB
      sqllocaldb start MSSQLLocalDB
   

6. If the LocalDB runtime is not installed, the documented action is to install the Local Database Runtime and try again.

If the goal is to “reset” LocalDB, use caution: deleting an instance removes all databases associated with that instance. The documented recreate sequence is:

sqllocaldb stop MSSQLLocalDB
sqllocaldb delete MSSQLLocalDB
sqllocaldb create MSSQLLocalDB
sqllocaldb start MSSQLLocalDB

• SQL Server Express LocalDB
• SQL Server Express LocalDB
• LOCALDB_ERROR_NOT_INSTALLED
• LocalDB and local development with SqlClient