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Remove Square Brackets from JSON - WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER Option
To remove the square brackets that surround the JSON output of the FOR JSON clause by default, specify the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option.
jovanpop-msft
jovanpop
jroth
03/06/2025
sql
how-to
WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER
=azuresqldb-current || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =azuresqldb-mi-current || =fabric

Remove Square Brackets from JSON - WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER Option

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

To remove the square brackets that surround the JSON output of the FOR JSON clause by default, specify the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option. Use this option with a single-row result to generate a single JSON object as output instead of an array with a single element.

If you use this option with a multiple-row result, the resulting output is not valid JSON because of the multiple elements and the missing square brackets.

Example (single-row result)

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

Query

SELECT 2015 as year, 12 as month, 15 as day  
FOR JSON PATH, WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER

Result with the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option

{
    "year": 2015,
    "month": 12,
    "day": 15
}

Result (default) without the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option

[{
    "year": 2015,
    "month": 12,
    "day": 15
}]

Example (multiple-row result)

Here's another example of a FOR JSON clause with and without the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option. This example produces a multiple-row result. The output is not valid JSON because of the multiple elements and the missing square brackets.

Query

SELECT TOP 3 SalesOrderNumber, OrderDate, Status  
FROM Sales.SalesOrderHeader  
ORDER BY ModifiedDate  
FOR JSON PATH, WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER

Result with the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option

{
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43662",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}, {
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43661",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}, {
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43660",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}

Result (default) without the WITHOUT_ARRAY_WRAPPER option

[{
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43662",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}, {
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43661",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}, {
    "SalesOrderNumber": "SO43660",
    "OrderDate": "2011-05-31T00:00:00",
    "Status": 5
}]

Learn more about JSON in the SQL Database Engine

Microsoft videos

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

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