question Re: DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ? in Support Questions

DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ?

Mike_CHU44 — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 13:43:23 GMT

Hello.

Before deleting rows in a specific table (463,462 rows in table), HDFS file size is :

$ hadoop fs -du -s -h /apps/hive/warehouse/prd_thmil.db/th_mil_fb_code_value_brut
54.2 M 162.6 M /apps/hive/warehouse/prd_thmil.db/th_mil_fb_code_value_brut

54.2 Mb is the size of 1 file and each file is replicated 2 times so 162.6 Mb is the total size, it OK.

But after deleting more than 450,000 rows in the table (12,890 rows remaining after the DELETE), the file size didn't change at all.

Is it normal ? When new rows are added in the table, file size won't grow and HDFS will 'overwrite' older data with the new one ?

Regards

Re: DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ?

nramanaiah — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:05:46 GMT

Existing files won't be rewritten by delete query, instead deleted rows ROW__ID will be written in new delete_delta folder. Read queries will apply deleted ROW__ID on existing files to exclude the rows.

Triggering Major compaction on the table will rewrite new files merging delta & delete_delta folder.

Re: DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ?

Adword — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 20:08:38 GMT

Deleting rows in Hive is like hiding books in a library:

File size stays the same: HDFS doesn't erase data, just marks it hidden.

New data fills "deleted" space: New info goes on those hidden shelves first.

No immediate shrink: Resizing files is slow, so HDFS waits.

That's why the file size didn't change. It's normal HDFS behavior!

Re: DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ?

Mike_CHU44 — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 08:10:20 GMT

Thank you, guys, for your answers.

Re: DELETE rows in table, how HDFS file size is impacted ?

ahmadnaveed — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:07:52 GMT

Yes, this is normal behavior in Hive. When you delete rows, the underlying HDFS files usually don't shrink automatically because HDFS doesn't modify files in place. You typically need to run compaction or rewrite the table (like using INSERT OVERWRITE) to reclaim the space.