The solution to your issue likely depends on what type of files back your table, but if you are using parquet, this option is probably what you are looking for:       set PARQUET_FALLBACK_SCHEMA_RESOLUTION=name;   https://www.cloudera.com/documentation/enterprise/5-8-x/topics/impala_parquet.html#parquet_schema_evolution     The issue is that by default, impala expects every entry in the parquet schema to be at the same ordinal position. If you add to your schema anywhere but the end impala starts throwing errors. The option above makes impala flexible about the ordinal positions within the parquet files.   ... View more