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SQL SERVER – Why One Table Cannot Be Deleted From a Backup File

Pinal Dave
SQL Tips and Tricks
4 Comments

You can’t Delete a Single Table by editing a SQL Server backup file. I keep the original backup intact.

An intact sealed case remains beside a separate staging tray and a new open destination case.

Restore into a separate staging database if a new backup must exclude a table. Review dependencies before removing it there. Then create and test a new backup. Don’t drop a production table to reduce backup size.

For storage size, assess backup compression on the supported edition and release. It can reduce space and I/O. It doesn’t remove tables, erase sensitive data or guarantee a ratio. Compression isn’t universally enabled by default.

I heard this question during an interview. Changing a database and changing an existing backup are different operations. The existing backup remains a record of the database when it was taken.

A new backup without one table doesn’t erase older copies. Copied media, snapshots and restore chains can retain that data. Treat retention and data removal as separate policies.

Related reading

A backup file is not an editable table container, it is a recovery artifact.

Published by Pinal Dave on SQLAuthority. More of my work at pinaldave.com.

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4 Comments. Leave new

  • Sanjay Monpara
    October 5, 2017 11:02 am

    Oracle gives option to take backup without data (schema only), is there any way to do so in sql server?

    Reply
  • KG
    October 16, 2017 12:05 pm

    Another way is restore db as a new from the backup, delete table and backup the new db )))

    Reply
  • Ashribad
    October 2, 2018 7:44 pm

    I got surprised , is it actually possible to delete a table from bak file .. after reading this . i just thanked god .. it should not happen even ..:)

    Reply

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