Error when connecting to SQL Server database

Question

When I'm trying to connect to my database I'm getting this error. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

And yes it's the right connection for my local database.

Answer 1

Go to Start Menu > SQL Server > Configuration Tools > SQL Server Configuration Manager and have a look at the screen you're seeing:

Do you see a service on the right-hand side that says SQL Server (.....) running ? If so - the text in the brackets is your instance name - use that instance name to connect to your database server:

.\instance-name
(local)\instance-name 

If the instance name says MSSQLSERVER , then you have an unnamed default instance - do not specify any instance name for connecting:

.
(local)

If you do not see any "SQL Server" service that is running --> you don't have any database engine installed and up and running