Metabase does not provide an official option to permanently delete user accounts. When a user is deactivated, Metabase marks the account as inactive and prevents the user from logging in, while preserving the user’s questions, dashboards, models, and other content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some administrative or data-retention scenarios, you may need to permanently remove a deactivated user<\/strong> and their associated records from the Metabase application database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Important:<\/strong> Take a complete backup of the Metabase application database before making any changes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Before proceeding, ensure that you have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metabase supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB as application databases, with PostgreSQL recommended for production environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, identify which database Metabase is using as its application database<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The application database is different from the databases that Metabase connects to for reporting and analytics. Metabase stores users, questions, dashboards, and application configuration in the application database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if Metabase is using PostgreSQL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before deleting anything, take a complete backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verify that the backup file was created successfully before continuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metabase stores user information in the For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find a specific user:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Example output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, the user ID is Before deleting the account, make sure the user is actually inactive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should see:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not<\/strong> proceed with deleting an active account unless you have a specific, tested procedure for doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the most important step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Metabase user may be referenced by other application tables. Deleting only the You should therefore inspect the database schema before deleting the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For PostgreSQL, you can inspect foreign-key relationships using:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This helps identify tables that reference Before deleting the user, check whether the account is associated with important content such as questions, dashboards, collections, subscriptions, or other objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you can inspect the schema and identify tables containing user references.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do not blindly run Instead, first inspect your installed version’s actual schema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have confirmed that the user has no remaining dependencies that would prevent deletion, the final deletion would involve removing the corresponding user record from the application database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then verify:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the query returns no rows, the user record has been removed from However, this does not automatically mean that all related records have been safely removed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After completing the database changes, start Metabase again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a systemd installation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then monitor the logs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Metabase is running in Docker:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Check that Metabase starts normally and that there are no database constraint or application errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metabase does not provide an officially supported mechanism for permanently deleting user accounts. The standard approach is to deactivate the account, which prevents login while preserving the user’s Metabase content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If permanent deletion is absolutely required, administrators can technically remove records from the Metabase application database, but this should be treated as a high-risk database administration task<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The recommended procedure is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never run a simple Metabase does not officially support permanent account deletion. The supported operation is deactivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Metabase stores user account information in its application database. In commonly used Metabase schemas, the primary user table is It is not recommended<\/strong> to do this without checking dependencies first. Other Metabase tables may reference the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The user may be referenced by other Metabase tables through foreign-key constraints. You must identify and handle those dependencies before deleting the user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. Stopping Metabase prevents the application from accessing or modifying the database while you are making direct database changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to List Configured Databases in Metabase Using CLI\/API? – Pheonix Solutions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nPrerequisites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nImplementation<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Step 1: Identify the Metabase Application Database<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
psql -U metabase -d metabase<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 2: Take a Database Backup<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
pg_dump -U metabase metabase > metabase_backup.sql<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 3: Find the Deactivated User<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
core_user<\/code> table in its application database.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSELECT id, email, first_name, last_name, is_active
FROM core_user
WHERE is_active = false;<\/pre>\n\n\n\nSELECT id, email, first_name, last_name, is_active
FROM core_user
WHERE email = 'user@example.com';<\/pre>\n\n\n\n id | email | first_name | last_name | is_active\n----+-------------------+------------+-----------+----------\n 15 | user@example.com | Test | User | false<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
15<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 4: Confirm the User Is Deactivated<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
SELECT id, email, is_active
FROM core_user
WHERE id = 15;<\/pre>\n\n\n\nis_active\n---------\nfalse<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 5: Check User References<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
core_user<\/code> record can result in constraint violations or leave inconsistent application data. Metabase community guidance specifically warns that users can have references in groups, collections, activity, reports, and other tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSELECT
tc.table_name,
kcu.column_name,
ccu.table_name AS foreign_table_name,
ccu.column_name AS foreign_column_name
FROM information_schema.table_constraints AS tc
JOIN information_schema.key_column_usage AS kcu
ON tc.constraint_name = kcu.constraint_name
JOIN information_schema.constraint_column_usage AS ccu
ON ccu.constraint_name = tc.constraint_name
WHERE tc.constraint_type = 'FOREIGN KEY'
AND ccu.table_name = 'core_user';<\/pre>\n\n\n\ncore_user<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 6: Check Whether the User Owns Metabase Content<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
DELETE<\/code> statements against tables based on an old Metabase version’s schema.<\/strong> Table relationships can change between Metabase releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 7: Delete the User<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
DELETE FROM core_user
WHERE id = 15
AND is_active = false;<\/pre>\n\n\n\nSELECT id, email, is_active
FROM core_user
WHERE id = 15;<\/pre>\n\n\n\ncore_user<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nStep 8: Start Metabase and Verify<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
systemctl start metabase<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
journalctl -u metabase -f<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
docker logs -f metabase<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
DELETE FROM core_user<\/code> on a production Metabase database without first understanding the relationships in your specific Metabase version. Community guidance has specifically warned that users can have references across multiple application tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Can I permanently delete a Metabase user?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
2. Where are Metabase users stored?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
core_user<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Can I simply run this query?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
DELETE FROM core_user WHERE id = 15;<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
4. Why did my
DELETE FROM core_user<\/code> query fail?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n5. Should I stop Metabase before modifying its application database?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Related Articles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n