All 7 Dynamic Data Masking questions
More in Dynamic Data Masking
What is dynamic data masking in SQL Server, and what problem does it solve? What built-in masking functions are available in SQL Server for dynamic data masking? How do you grant a specific user or role permission to see the real, unmasked data despite dynamic data masking being applied? Does dynamic data masking prevent a determined user from working around it to see the real underlying values? How would you apply dynamic data masking to an existing table with sensitive columns as part of a broader compliance initiative, such as meeting data privacy regulations? How does dynamic data masking behave differently when a masked column is used in a JOIN, WHERE clause, or exported through an application, compared to a simple SELECT query?
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How do you remove dynamic data masking from a column once it is no longer needed?

Intermediate

Answer

You use an ALTER TABLE statement with the ALTER COLUMN clause and the DROP MASKED option, which removes the masking function from that column so all users with normal query permission will once again see the real, unmasked value.
ALTER TABLE Customers
ALTER COLUMN Email DROP MASKED;
Real-world example A team removes dynamic data masking from an internal test database's email column, since the fake test data in that specific environment does not need to be protected the way real production customer data does.

Common follow-ups: Should test and development environments typically use the same masking rules as production?;What happens to existing UNMASK permissions after masking is removed from a column?

SQL Server Security & Permissions;Data Types & Schema Design
All 7 Dynamic Data Masking questions