include-null-values-in-json-include-null-values-option.md

title	description	author	ms.author	ms.reviewer	ms.date	ms.service	ms.topic	helpviewer_keywords	monikerRange
Include Null Values in JSON - INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES Option	Include Null Values in JSON - INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES Option	jovanpop-msft	jovanpop	jroth	06/03/2020	sql	conceptual	INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES (FOR JSON)	=azuresqldb-current||>=sql-server-2016||>=sql-server-linux-2017||=azuresqldb-mi-current

Include Null Values in JSON - INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES Option

[!INCLUDE sqlserver2016-asdb-asdbmi-asa-serverless-pool-only]

To include null values in the JSON output of the FOR JSON clause, specify the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

If you don't specify the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option, the JSON output doesn't include properties for values that are null in the query results.

Examples

The following example shows the output of the FOR JSON clause with and without the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

Without the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option	With the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option
{ "name": "John", "surname": "Doe" }	{ "name": "John", "surname": "Doe", "age": null, "phone": null }

Here's another example of a FOR JSON clause with the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

Query

SELECT name, surname  
FROM emp  
FOR JSON AUTO, INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES    

Result

[{
    "name": "John",
    "surname": null
}, {
    "name": "Jane",
    "surname": "Doe"
}] 

Learn more about JSON in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database

Microsoft videos

Note

Some of the video links in this section may not work at this time. Microsoft is migrating content formerly on Channel 9 to a new platform. We will update the links as the videos are migrated to the new platform.

For a visual introduction to the built-in JSON support in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database, see the following videos:

• JSON as a bridge between NoSQL and relational worlds

See Also

FOR Clause (Transact-SQL)