Cannot delete Azure Databricks

Question

Cannot delete Azure Databricks

Ha Nguyen 25

I am trying to delete a Databricks workspace, but the deletion has been ongoing for about 1 month.

I run this command az resource list --resource-group <YourResourceGroup>. The result shows Databricks is only resource still alive in resource group. There is no lock in my RG or Databricks.

And when I run force-deletion, I got this error: (ApplianceBeingDeleted) The operation cannot be performed on the appliance 'hant-databricks-thesis' because it is being deleted

Code: ApplianceBeingDeleted

Message: The operation cannot be performed on the appliance 'hant-databricks-thesis' because it is being deleted

The provisioning state still says "Deleting," even though it never actually gets deleted.

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Answer 1

Hi Ha Nguyen

Thanks for your patience while we worked on this.

We identified that the workspace deletion was getting stuck due to a backend issue where the delete operation was not completing successfully. Our internal team reset the workspace state from “Deleting” to “Failed”, which allowed the deletion process to be retried.

After that, the workspace was successfully deleted.

If anyone else runs into a similar issue where the workspace stays in Deleting for a long time and force delete does not work, the recommended approach is:

Wait for backend validation

Reset the state (via support)

Retry deletion

Thanks again for your cooperation!

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you any further queries.

Answer 2

The workspace is stuck in a long‑running delete because the appliance is already in “Deleting” state. To clean this up, use one of the supported force‑deletion paths that explicitly target Databricks workspaces, rather than a generic az resource call.

Use one of these approaches:

Force delete the workspace (recommended)

Using Azure CLI:
```
  az databricks workspace delete \
    --name <NameOfWorkspace> \
    --resource-group <NameOfResourceGroup> \
    --force-deletion true \
    --yes
```
This command deletes the workspace and its managed resource group, including the workspace catalog and all associated data when Unity Catalog is enabled.

Using Azure PowerShell:

  Remove-AzDatabricksWorkspace `
    -Name <NameOfWorkspace> `
    -ResourceGroupName <NameOfResourceGroup> `
    -ForceDeletion

Force deletion is irreversible and removes the workspace catalog, managed tables, volumes, and the managed resource group. Ensure any required data is backed up before running these commands.

Force delete via resource group deletion

If the workspace is the only remaining resource and can be removed with the resource group:

Using Azure CLI:

  az group delete \
    --name <NameOfResourceGroup> \
    --force-deletion-types Microsoft.Databricks/workspaces

Using Azure PowerShell:

  Remove-AzResourceGroup -Name <NameOfResourceGroup> `
    -ForceDeletionType Microsoft.Databricks/workspaces -Force

This explicitly tells Azure to force delete Databricks workspaces in that resource group, which clears stuck “Deleting” states.

Be aware of Unity Catalog retention behavior

If Unity Catalog is enabled by default on the workspace and force deletion is not used, the default workspace catalog and its storage (DBFS storage account and access connector) are retained even after workspace deletion. To fully remove these, force deletion must be used as shown above.

If, after running the force‑deletion commands, the provisioning state remains “Deleting” for an extended period, open a support case with Azure Support, as backend intervention may be required to clear the appliance state.

References:

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Cannot delete Azure Databricks

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