# Concatenate Rows into a Single String in SQL Server

> Concatenate values from multiple SQL Server rows into one string using STRING_AGG (2017+) or the FOR XML PATH workaround for earlier versions

**URL:** https://sentry.io/answers/how-to-concatenate-text-from-multiple-rows-into-a-single-text-string-in-sql-server/

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## The Problem

Imagine you have a table in MS SQL Server with a column containing many strings in multiple rows. How do you display them concatenated in one line?

## The Solution

Assume you have a table called `Person` with a `Name` column like the following:

```sql
CREATE TABLE Person
(
    Id INT PRIMARY KEY,
    Name VARCHAR(255)
);

INSERT INTO Person(Id, Name)
VALUES
    (1, 'Amir'),
    (2, 'Sofia'),
    (3, 'Aya'),
    (4, 'Mateo'),
    (5, 'Leila'),
    (6, 'Yara'),
    (7, 'Ndidi'),
    (8, 'Santiago');
```

If you want to display all the names in one string and you are using SQL Server after 2017, you can use the `STRING_AGG` function to concatenate multiple rows:

```sql
SELECT STRING_AGG(Name, ', ') AS Names
FROM Person;

-- Names
-- Amir, Sofia, Aya, Mateo, Leila, Yara, Ndidi, Santiago
```

If you are using an earlier version of SQL Server you can use XML:

```sql
SELECT Name + ', ' AS 'data()'
FROM Person
FOR XML PATH('');

-- XML_F52E2B61-18A1-11d1-B105-00805F49916B
-- Amir, Sofia, Aya, Mateo, Leila, Yara, Ndidi, Santiago
```

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*Source: [sentry.io/answers/how-to-concatenate-text-from-multiple-rows-into-a-single-text-string-in-sql-server/](https://sentry.io/answers/how-to-concatenate-text-from-multiple-rows-into-a-single-text-string-in-sql-server/)*