topic Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

VanessaKing — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 21:34:22 GMT

When I delete a feature class or raster from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro 2.0 using Catalog, the feature class or raster disappears but a file geodatabase table remains. If I then try to delete the table, the program indicates that it is deleting the table, but the table is still there. I also could not delete a standalone table.

It seems like there must be a simple fix, but I can't figure out what it is. I confirmed that the tables are not being used in any of my maps, and I tried closing and reopening ArcGIS Pro. I was able to delete the tables using ArcCatalog, but surely it must be possible to do this from within Pro.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 21:52:18 GMT

I have always done my data management in Pro from here.

So when you refer to 'Catalog' you are referring to this 'Catalog' (formerly the Project)

Removing from a map of course, does not delete from the source.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

VanessaKing — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:03:52 GMT

Thanks for the response Dan. Yes, I am referring to the catalog shown in your screenshot. When I right-click a table and then select "delete", the dialog box appears to ask "Are you sure you want to permanently delete this item?" and I click yes, and then nothing happens.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

VanessaKing — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:06:23 GMT

Hmm, I tried deleting a couple more tables and it worked fine. I still have no idea what was causing the problem, but it seems to have resolved itself.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

DanPatterson_Retired — Tue, 06 Feb 2018 22:15:58 GMT

sometimes good things come to those that wait ... glad it worked out

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

MeganLayhee — Wed, 06 May 2020 22:07:12 GMT

I know that this is a dated post and your issue resolved itself, but for anyone else who has the same issues and comes across this thread, I thought I'd share my workaround. For whatever reason I also found that when I tried to delete this one table from my geodatabase in the catalog pane in Arc Pro (by right-clicking the file and selecting delete), it gave me an error message saying it could not delete the table. I then tried using the Delete geoprocessing tool. That removed the table the first time running it. So for anyone with this issue in the future, try that.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

applephx — Sun, 10 May 2020 20:12:01 GMT

I had this same issue and I finally found a solution! Saving and "saving edits" are different.

While in the Map tab; go to the Edit tab, then click Save (in the "Manage Edits" grouping).

As far as I can tell, this commits edits to databases and allows deletions. It also explains how the problem could 'resolve itself' such as Vanessa King mentioned because various actions including exiting the application or project will save these edits and allow future geodatabase deletions.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

Tolo__AdamTolo — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 22:31:59 GMT

Wanted to add my findings to this old post too.

I was running into the same issue and tried the Delete geoprocessing tool. It gave me an error that I had a schema lock.

So went into PGAdmin and killed any idle sessions and was able to delete the tables.

Re: How do I delete tables from a geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro?

Jwalke20 — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:45:01 GMT

7 years later... This is a recurring problem for our office. No locks on our data but unable to manually delete or successfully run the Delete tool.