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Cannot delete records from HcmPositionHierarchy table - Delete button disabled in Table Browser

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Posted on by Sergio_Vasquez

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I'm trying to delete positions in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, but I get this error:
"Cannot delete Positions while dependent Position hierarchies exist. Delete dependent Position hierarchies and try again."

I navigated to the HcmPositionHierarchy table using Table Browser (&mi=SysTableBrowser&TableName=HcmPositionHierarchy), and I can see all the records that need to be deleted. However, the "Delete" button (Eliminar) is grayed out/disabled.

What I've tried:

I have full administrator/super user permissions

Uploading a blank template doesn't delete the records (it just gets ignored)

I cannot find a "Delete" mode option in Data Management when importing

I don't have direct SQL access to the database

Question:
How can I delete records from HcmPositionHierarchy when the delete button is disabled in Table Browser? Is there a system setting, maintenance mode, or data management configuration that allows bulk deletion of these records?

Categories:

Dynamics 365 Human Resources

Dynamics 365 Finance

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Anton Venter 20,656 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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@Sergio_Vasquez

The delete button of the Table Browser is disabled in the production environment. This is by design and is to enforce data integrity by not allowing deletion of data directly on a table in the production environment.

You could delete the data by using the F&O the user interface provided you delete the data in the correct order and if the business rules in the system do not stop you from doing so. The production database is not accessible with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) like in the sandbox or Dev environments.

If you are absolutely sure you must delete those records and there is no way to do that in the user interface, you could write a runnable class to do that for you. But you must make sure you don't screw up your data by deleting the data and making things worse. You will have to create this runnable class in Visual Studio and deploy it to the production environment using a deployable package and by following your usual deployment flow.

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Sagar121 1,160 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @Sergio_Vasquez,

Anton have already answered your question. But I will also add few more points.

You should also check references of this table for impact. Also run the data consistency check as it helps.

Also you can create runnable if you don't have too many records. Please go through best practice here.

Run custom X++ scripts with zero downtime - Finance & Operations | Dynamics 365 | Microsoft Learn

If in case records number is high should go with Batch then.

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André Arnaud de Cal... 303,730 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi Sergio,

The position has history. I don't think it is a good idea to delete these positions. You can put an end date on the position itself to get them disabled for new worker assignments.

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Mia Remme 178 on at

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Hey Sergio,

In order to Delete records from the Position Hierarchy table you can use Open in Excel function.

Go to Common - Excel Workbook designer

Search for position Hierarchi - move all fields into Selected fields box and click on Create workbook.

After you download the document in Excel, update the desired records and publish the changes. You can also delete records and publish.

Important: If you want to keep the history for the position hierarchy I would not recommend deleting, but insted update the expiration date.

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