The SQL Server TOP clause WITH TIES option is not a new feature, but still many of database developers don’t know about it.

This option is available with the TOP clause since a long time, and this is one of the best TSQL options.

We are using the TOP clause to a SELECT TOP N number of records from a Table, but using TOP WITH TIES option, we can also include the duplicate or same value of records in the result.

The TOP WITH TIES option works based on a defined column in the ORDER BY clause.

Below is a small demonstration of TOP WITH TIES clause:

CREATE TABLE tbl_TestTOPClause
(
	EmpID INT IDENTITY(1,1)
	,EmpName VARCHAR(50)
	,Age INT
	,DepartmentName VARCHAR(50)
	,CONSTRAINT pk_tbl_TestTOPClause_EmpID PRIMARY KEY(EmpID)
)
GO

INSERT INTO tbl_TestTOPClause
(EmpName,Age,DepartmentName)
VALUES
('Anvesh',28,'Production')
,('Neevan',20,'Sales')
,('Jenny',21,'Account')
,('Jenny',24,'Production')
,('Martin',25,'Inventory')
,('Ruhan',30,'Sales')
,('Peter',33,'Account')
,('Peter',26,'Production')
,('Peter',23,'Inventory')
GO

SELECT TOP records with out WITH TIES option:

SELECT TOP 3 * 
FROM tbl_TestTOPClause 
ORDER BY EmpName DESC
GO

--The Result:

EmpID       EmpName        Age         DepartmentName
----------- ---------- ----------- ----------------------
6           Ruhan          30          Sales
7           Peter          33          Account
8           Peter          26          Production

SELECT TOP records using WITH TIES option using EmpName in ORDER BY:

SELECT TOP 3 WITH TIES *
FROM tbl_TestTOPClause 
ORDER BY EmpName DESC
GO

--The Result: Return 4 records because Empname = Peter is a duplicate three times.
EmpID       EmpName          Age         DepartmentName
----------- ----------- ----------- ------------------------
6           Ruhan            30          Sales
7           Peter            33          Account
8           Peter            26          Production
9           Peter            23          Inventory