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drop-external-table-transact-sql.md

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title DROP EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL)
description DROP EXTERNAL TABLE removes an external table from a database, but doesn't delete the external data.
author MikeRayMSFT
ms.author mikeray
ms.reviewer hudequei, wiassaf
ms.date 05/13/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice t-sql
ms.topic reference
f1_keywords
DROP_EXTERNAL_TABLE
DROP EXTERNAL TABLE
dev_langs
TSQL
monikerRange >=aps-pdw-2016 || =azuresqldb-current || =azure-sqldw-latest || >=sql-server-2016 || >=sql-server-linux-2017 || =azuresqldb-mi-current || =fabric

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE sqlserver2016-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw-fabricdw]

Removes an external table from a database, but doesn't delete the external data.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE { database_name.schema_name.table_name | schema_name.table_name | table_name }
[;]

Arguments

[ database_name . [schema_name] . | schema_name . ] table_name
The one- to three-part name of the external table to remove. The table name can optionally include the schema, or the database and schema.

Permissions

Requires:

  • ALTER permission on the schema to which the table belongs.
  • ALTER ANY EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE
  • ALTER ANY EXTERNAL FILE FORMAT

Remarks

Dropping an external table removes all table-related metadata. It doesn't delete the external data.

Examples

A. Use basic syntax

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE SalesPerson;  
DROP EXTERNAL TABLE dbo.SalesPerson;  
DROP EXTERNAL TABLE EasternDivision.dbo.SalesPerson;

B. Drop an external table from the current database

The following example removes the ProductVendor1 table, its data, indexes, and any dependent views from the current database.

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE ProductVendor1;

C. Drop a table from another database

The following example drops the SalesPerson table in the EasternDivision database.

DROP EXTERNAL TABLE EasternDivision.dbo.SalesPerson;

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