What causes HIVE_METASTORE_ERROR?

Hive Metastore service temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or a Databricks platform issue. Metastore database (typically MySQL) running out of connections or disk space. Concurrent DDL operations causing metastore lock contention. External Hive Metastore misconfiguration after a cluster policy or workspace config change. Large number of partitions in a Hive table exceeding metastore performance thresholds

How do I fix HIVE_METASTORE_ERROR?

Retry the operation — transient metastore availability issues often resolve within minutes. Check the Databricks status page for any active incidents affecting the metastore service. If using an external Hive Metastore, verify the JDBC URL, credentials, and database availability. For partition-heavy tables, consider migrating to Delta Lake with Delta's own transaction log rather than Hive-managed partitions. Reduce metastore load by splitting large DDL operations (e.g. MSCK REPAIR TABLE) into smaller batches. Consider migrating workspace-local Hive tables to Unity Catalog to benefit from its more resilient metadata layer

High severityinfrastructure

Power BI Refresh Error:
HIVE_METASTORE_ERROR

What does this error mean?

A Databricks operation failed because the underlying Hive Metastore returned an error or was unreachable. This affects table lookups, DDL operations, and schema access on workspace-local Hive tables.

Common causes

1Hive Metastore service temporarily unavailable due to maintenance or a Databricks platform issue
2Metastore database (typically MySQL) running out of connections or disk space
3Concurrent DDL operations causing metastore lock contention
4External Hive Metastore misconfiguration after a cluster policy or workspace config change
5Large number of partitions in a Hive table exceeding metastore performance thresholds

How to fix it

1Retry the operation — transient metastore availability issues often resolve within minutes
2Check the Databricks status page for any active incidents affecting the metastore service
3If using an external Hive Metastore, verify the JDBC URL, credentials, and database availability
4For partition-heavy tables, consider migrating to Delta Lake with Delta's own transaction log rather than Hive-managed partitions
5Reduce metastore load by splitting large DDL operations (e.g. MSCK REPAIR TABLE) into smaller batches
6Consider migrating workspace-local Hive tables to Unity Catalog to benefit from its more resilient metadata layer

Frequently asked questions

Does Unity Catalog replace the Hive Metastore?

Unity Catalog is Databricks' next-generation governance layer and is the recommended replacement for workspace-local Hive Metastore. Tables in Unity Catalog are not affected by Hive Metastore errors.

How do I check if the Hive Metastore is the bottleneck?

Enable Spark event logging and look for `HiveClient` or `ExternalCatalog` calls with high latency. Databricks cluster event logs will also show metastore-related warnings.