SQL Server Express mdf file is 50+gb

Question

I have a SQL Server Express database running on a POS register where the mdf file is 50+gb. When I run select @@version I get:

Microsoft SQL Server 2017 (RTM) - 14.0.1000.169 (X64) Aug 22 2017 17:04:49 Copyright (C) 2017 Microsoft Corporation Express Edition (64-bit) on Windows 10 Enterprise 10.0 (Build 15063: )

I'm confused by this as I thought SQL Server Express has an mdf file limit of 10GB. Is there something I'm missing?

SELECT type_desc, physical_name FROM sys.database_files; returns:

type_desc	physical_name
ROWS	C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.POS\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf
LOG	C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.POS\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf

I limited the ldf file to about 8GB.

Answer 1

The 10GB file size limit for Express Edition only applies to user databases.

System databases like master, model, and tempdb do not have this restriction.

It's not a great idea to store user data in the master database. I don't know if you're technically breaking the licence agreement, though I suspect you are.