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Asked: 2026-05-10T23:23:46+00:00

VARCHAR does not store Unicode characters. NVARCHAR does store Unicode characters. Today’s applications should

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  1. VARCHAR does not store Unicode characters.
  2. NVARCHAR does store Unicode characters.
  3. Today’s applications should always be Unicode compatible.
  4. NVARCHAR takes twice the amount of space to store it.
  5. Point 4 doesn’t matter because storage space is extremely inexpensive.

Ergo: When designing SQL Server databases today, one should always use NVARCHAR.

Is this sound reasoning? Does anyone disagree with any of the premises? Are there any reasons to choose VARCHAR over NVARCHAR today?

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1 Answer

  1. You match the datatype with the data that will be stored in the column. By a similar argument you could say why not store all data in NVARCHAR columns, because numbers and dates can be represented as strings of digits.

    If the best match for the data that will be stored in the column is VARCHAR, then use it.

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