seniorT-SQL
What are memory grants and memory spills in execution plans?
Updated May 17, 2026
Short answer
Memory grants allocate memory to query operators; spills occur when memory is insufficient.
Deep explanation
Operators like sort and hash join request memory grants based on CE. If underestimated, they spill to tempdb causing performance degradation. Overestimation leads to memory waste and reduced concurrency.
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