Business Central: Turn SIFT Indexes on or Off
SIFT index management in Business Central: administrators can turn SIFT indexes on or off from the client, extending the index management introduced in 2026 release wave 1. Covers the Index Management page, company-level control, enable/disable timing, and guidance on when to disable.
- Introduction and SIFT Overview
- What SIFT Does and Performance Trade-offs
- SIFT Technical Implementation and AL Definition
- Index Management in 2026 Release Wave 1
- New SIFT Management in 2026 Release Wave 2
- Index Management Page Features and Statistics
- Multi-Company Index Control and Business Benefits
- Impact on Administrators and Consultants
- Role of Developers in SIFT Index Management
- Timing of Index Enable and Disable Operations
- Best Practices for SIFT Index Decisions
- Key Takeaways and Feature Releases
- Closing Remarks and Summary
Overview
The video explains SIFT (sum index field technology), which makes certain aggregate calculations faster but has costs, so it should not be added to every table. It describes how 2026 release wave 1 introduced application-level index management through the table information page, and how 2026 release wave 2 extends this to SIFT indexes.
It demos the Index Management page, which shows index type, whether an index is AL-defined or platform-defined, and statistics such as fragmentation, size, seeks, scans, lookups and last update. It also covers company-level control in multi-company setups, the roles of administrators, consultants and developers, and best practices for deciding whether to disable an index.
Key points
- SIFT stands for sum index field technology and speeds up certain aggregate calculations, but it has a cost, so its value depends on the workload.
- 2026 release wave 1 added application-level index management through the table information page, without changing AL code.
- 2026 release wave 2 extends this so administrators can turn SIFT indexes on or off from table information or the Index Management page.
- Primary keys, unique keys and platform-defined indexes (such as system ID) cannot be toggled.
- Indexes can be enabled or disabled at company level, so companies in a multi-company environment can have different configurations.
- Disabling an index happens immediately. Enabling is deferred to the next overnight maintenance cycle in tenant local time.
- A SIFT index with low usage should not be disabled automatically; judge it against the particular workload and storage needs.
Features
| Feature | Status | At | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn SIFT indexes on or off from Business Central client | generally available (roadmap Administrators can turn SIFT indexes on/off), demoed | 0:11 | “So get into your preview environment if you have and search for table information.” (8:20) |
| Index Management page | preview, demoed | 8:07 | “So get into your preview environment if you have and search for table information.” (8:20) |
| Index type classification | status not stated, demoed | 10:39 | |
| Company-level index control | status not stated, demoed | 12:07 | |
| Database index management at application level | status not stated | 5:48 | |
| Immediate index disable with deferred enable | status not stated, demoed | 16:48 |
A status with a roadmap link comes from the Microsoft 365 roadmap feature this part of the video covers (matched by Haiku; links Opus dropped are not used); other statuses need a status word in the video itself.
AL objects mentioned
As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.
- table “GL Entry” at 4:14
- page 8700 “Table Information” at 19:29
- page “index management page” at 19:41
Not found in BC28-30: table “GL Entry”, page “index management page”.
Quotes
- 1:25 “Shift stand for sum index field technology. The purpose of shift is simple. Make certain aggregate calculations faster.”
- 3:05 “it comes up with its tradeoff when records are inserted, modified or deleted. Any table which have enabled shift structures need to be maintained.”
- 3:58 “The correct question isn’t are shift indexes good or bad. The better question is are these shift indexes valuable enough for the particular workload.”
- 5:59 “In 2026 release one, Microsoft introduced application level management of database index through table information experience.”
- 7:13 “In business 2026 release wave 2, Microsoft have added that administrator can turn shift indexes on or off whenever they need it”
Disclaimers in the video
- 8:20 preview: Get into your preview environment if you have and search for table information
Presenters (as heard): Sav Dhani.