Am not able to drop any table from Microsoft SQL Analytics End point -

[Ramanareddyp]

Hi Friends,

am trying to drop the tables from SQL analytics end point. 

getting the below error.

The external policy action 'Microsoft.Sql/Sqlservers/Databases/Schemas/Tables/Drop' was denied on the requested resource.

just wanted to check if any experienced this and fixed it.

Please share some inputs

Thanks

Ramana

[Hakesh]

DROP TABLE IF EXISTS catalog_name.schema_name.table_name;
Can be used for both external tables and managed tables. but external tables meta data is stored in files.

And the error denied request is based on the lacking of permission to drop the table. ensure that you have the persmission or has assigned role has permission to drop the table.

[v-sgandrathi · Accepted solution]

HI @Ramanareddyp,

Thankyou @46 for the accurate and helpful response! You've clearly explained that DROP TABLE is not supported through the SQL Analytics Endpoint and pointed out the correct alternatives via Lakehouse or Notebooks.

Just to add a few more helpful points for your idea:
These endpoints are primarily built for querying and reporting. Operations like SELECT, JOIN, and AGGREGATIONS work fine, but DDL operations (e.g., DROP, CREATE, ALTER TABLE) are not supported from this layer.

Tables exposed in the endpoint are stored in the Lakehouse as Delta Lake tables (in OneLake).
So, any structural changes must be performed at the Lakehouse level, either through the Lakehouse UI (Explorer) or using PySpark in a Fabric Notebook:
spark.sql("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS your_table_name")

Please Accept as solution if this meets your needs and a Kudos would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[v-sgandrathi]

Hi @Ramanareddyp,

I wanted to check in your situation regarding the issue. Have you resolved it? If you have, please consider marking the reply as Accepted solution and give Kudos that helped you. It would be greatly appreciated by others in the community who may have the same question.

Thank you.

[46]

Hi Ramanareddyp,

You're getting this error because dropping tables is not allowed due to permissions or policy restrictions.

If you're using Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse), the SQL Analytics Endpoint is read-only for DDL (like DROP TABLE). You can’t drop tables from there—use Lakehouse Explorer or a notebook with PySpark:

spark.sql("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS your_table_name")

Accept as SOLUTION it if it works out for you, so others can benefit too.

[Ramanareddyp]

Hi,

I'm the admin here, but I'm still unable to drop the table.

Also, I’ve noticed that a few tables are visible from the SQL Analytics endpoint, but not from the Lakehouse. I'm not sure why that’s happening.

We dropped a few tables using PySpark code from the Lakehouse. However, I can still see them in the SQL Analytics endpoint, and querying them throws an error.

Does this mean the actual data was dropped, but the metadata still exists? I'm a bit confused and would appreciate some clarification.

Thanks

Ramana

[Srisakthi]

Hi @Ramanareddyp ,

Are you using your own personal workspace?

1. If you are using workspace assigned by someone reach out to them for access, they might have applied restrictions.

2. If you are shared with particular Lakehouse/warehouse , they might have applied restrictions. 

So reach out to the person who has give access.

Regards,

Srisakthi

[Ramanareddyp]

Hi Srisakthi,

I do not have any Warehouse. am working with only Lakehouse. only few are Using this Lakehouse. there are no anybody to control or restrict here.

Thanks

Ramana

[Ramanareddyp]

Thanks Srisakthi for the reply,

I'm the admin here, but I'm still unable to drop the table.

Also, I’ve noticed that a few tables are visible from the SQL Analytics endpoint, but not from the Lakehouse. I'm not sure why that’s happening.

We dropped a few tables using PySpark code from the Lakehouse. However, I can still see them in the SQL Analytics endpoint, and querying them throws an error.

Does this mean the actual data was dropped, but the metadata still exists? I'm a bit confused and would appreciate some clarification.

Thanks

Ramana