---
title: "What is the difference between varchar and nvarchar types in SQL?"  
description: "What is the difference between varchar and nvarchar types in SQL?"  
author: "Ashutosh Patel"  
published: 2023-03-22  
updated: 2023-03-22  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157536/what-is-the-difference-between-varchar-and-nvarchar-types-in-sql  
category: "mssql server"  
tags: ["mssql server", "sql server", "sql"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What is the difference between varchar and nvarchar types in SQL?

What is the [difference](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/157114/good-news-or-bad-news-and-the-difference-is) between [varchar](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/161878/what-is-the-difference-between-nvarchar-and-varchar) and nvarchar types in [SQL](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/13115/types-of-keys-in-sql-or-oracle-database)?

## Replies

### Reply by Krishnapriya Rajeev

Difference between varchar and nvarchar are as follows:

| **VARCHAR** | **NVARCHAR** |
| --- | --- |
| Varchar stores ASCII values. | Nvarchar stores Unicode characters. |
| Varchar uses one byte per character. | Nvarchar uses two bytes per character. |
| Varchar can store a maximum of 8000 non-Unicode characters. | Nvarchar stores maximum of 4000 Unicode or non-Unicode characters. |
| The storage capacity of a varchar is determined by the number of characters it contains, with an additional two bytes reserved for offset. | The storage capacity of nvarchar is calculated based on twice the number of characters it has, along with an extra two bytes that are set aside for offset. |


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Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157536/what-is-the-difference-between-varchar-and-nvarchar-types-in-sql

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