admin access for DataBricks

Question

What is the process for obtaining Databricks workspace admin access for a small team (38 users) to perform workspace cleanup, including managing orphaned assets in inactive users' folders?

Answer 1

For a small team, the supported path is to have an existing workspace admin or account admin assign the Databricks workspace admin role to the person who will handle cleanup.

Key points:

1. Who can grant access
   • Only account admins or workspace admins can manage users.
   • Workspace admins have admin privileges within a single workspace and can manage workspace-level identities and settings.
   • The workspace admin role can be assigned only to individual users or service principals, not to a group.
2. How to assign workspace admin access
   • In the Azure Databricks workspace, a current workspace admin can go to: Username in top bar → Settings → Identity and access → Users → Manage
   • Select the user.
   • Under Entitlements, turn on Admin access.
3. Alternative account-level path
   • An account admin can also manage access from the account console and assign users to workspaces.
   • Account admins can delegate both account admin and workspace admin roles.
4. If no account admin is known
   • A Microsoft Entra ID Global Administrator can establish the first Databricks account admin by signing in to the account console at https://accounts.azuredatabricks.net.
   • After that, the new account admin can assign the needed admin roles.
5. For cleanup and orphaned assets
   • Workspace admin is the appropriate day-to-day role for tasks such as adding and removing users, managing workspace access, and handling workspace administration.
   • Databricks recommends limiting the number of workspace admins and using groups for ongoing access management where possible.
6. If the goal is access to data or assets owned by inactive users
   • Many organizations manage permissions through synced groups.
   • If teammates already have the needed access, a workspace admin can add the cleanup user to the correct group.

---

References:

• Manage users
• Databricks administration overview
• Unity Catalog setup guide
• Identity best practices
• Azure Databricks - requesting Account Admin access - Microsoft Q&A
• We need to reassign the account admin for our Databricks account - Microsoft Q&A
• Connect to data sources and external services

Answer 2

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Hello @Gorbikov, Alexander N I hope you are doing well,

For a small team that needs to perform workspace administration and clean up resources belonging to inactive users, the appropriate role is generally Workspace Admin rather than Account Admin.

A current workspace admin can grant admin access to individual users from:

Workspace → Settings → Identity and access → Users → Manage → select the user → Admin access

A few important points:

• Workspace Admin provides administrative privileges for that specific Azure Databricks workspace.

Account Admin is broader and should generally be limited to users who need account-level administration.

For ongoing access management, Databricks recommends using groups where possible rather than assigning elevated privileges unnecessarily.

• For orphaned notebooks or workspace objects belonging to inactive users, the cleanup process may require additional workspace permissions depending on the specific asset and its ownership.

If there is already a workspace admin, they should be able to grant the required access without involving Microsoft support.

If no workspace or account administrator is available, first identify who administers the Azure Databricks account/Entra ID environment, since the recovery path depends on how the Databricks account was originally configured.

References:

Manage users in Azure Databricks

Azure Databricks administration

Identity best practices

If this answer helped clarify the platform capabilities and save you troubleshooting time, please consider marking it as Accepted. This helps others in the community find similar solutions.