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In Databricks Delta Lake, what is the primary distinction between a Shallow Clone and a Deep Clone?

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Last updated: January 6, 2026 at 15:39

Shallow clones are read-only versions of a table used for reporting, whereas deep clones are fully mutable copies.

Shallow clones copy only the table metadata and reference the existing data files, while deep clones copy both the metadata and the underlying data files to create a fully independent table.

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Shallow clones utilize the transaction log for faster processing, whereas deep clones bypass the log to copy physical files directly to avoid overhead.