Fabric Copy Data Activity Table Action Overwrite

DP-600 By islever Editorial Last updated Oct 4, 2026

Transform data

Short answer

B From the Destination tab, set Table action to Overwrite to replace the schema and data of the target table.

Question

You have a Fabric tenant that contains a lakehouse named Lakehouse’. Lakehouse1 contains a table named Tablet. You are creating a new data pipeline. You plan to copy external data to Table’. The schema of the external data changes regularly. You need the copy operation to meet the following requirements: Replace Table1 with the schema of the external data. Replace all the data in Table1 with the rows in the external data. You add a Copy data activity to the pipeline. What should you do for the Copy data activity?

From the Source tab, add additional columns.
From the Destination tab, set Table action to Overwrite. Correct Answer
From the Settings tab, select Enable staging.
From the Source tab, select Enable partition discovery.
From the Source tab, select Recursively.

Key Takeaways

The Copy data activity's 'Overwrite' table action replaces both the existing schema and data in the destination table, which is necessary when the source schema changes regularly and all old data must be removed.

When copying external data to a Fabric lakehouse table with a regularly changing schema, setting the Copy data activity's Table action to Overwrite replaces both the destination schema and data. This page establishes that Overwrite is the correct configuration to handle full schema and data replacement.

Common mistake: Choosing 'Add additional columns' assumes schema drift can be handled by appending columns, but this fails to remove old schema structures or replace the existing data as required.

Expert Analysis

Why the Answer Is Correct

Setting the Table action to Overwrite on the Destination tab of the Copy data activity explicitly drops the existing table schema and recreates it based on the external data source, while also replacing all the data. This directly satisfies the requirement to replace the schema and the data when the external data schema changes regularly. As noted in the community, the tooltip for Overwrite confirms it overwrites both the existing data and schema.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

Adding additional columns (Option A) merely appends columns and does not replace the schema or data. Enabling staging (Option C) is a performance optimization for data movement, not a mechanism for schema evolution or data replacement. Enabling partition discovery (Option D) and selecting Recursively (Option E) are source-side configurations for reading partitioned or nested folder structures, respectively, and have no effect on how the destination table's schema or data is handled.

Community Comment Notes

Commenters unanimously agreed that Option B is the correct choice because it handles both schema and data replacement. User a_51 pointed out the tooltip explicitly states "Enable overwrite table option to overwrite the existing data and schema in the table using the new values", which perfectly matches the question's requirements. User stilferx noted that the other options serve completely different purposes.

Official Reference

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/data-factory/copy-data-activity#configure-your-destination-under-the-destination-tab

This link opens the official vendor documentation in a new tab.

Exam Strategy

For Copy data activity questions, carefully distinguish between Source and Destination tab settings. When the requirement involves replacing or truncating destination data and schema, look for 'Overwrite' or 'Truncate' options on the Destination tab rather than source configurations.

Community Votes

100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer B. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 8 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors, not of islever. The comments shown first are the most substantive of the thread — ranked by depth, community endorsement and relevance; expand the list below to read the rest.

From public community threads 8

IshtarSQL 👍 2 Answered B

Correct: Enable "Truncate table" option: This option truncates the target table before copying data, ensuring that all existing data is replaced with the new data from the external source.
2dc6125 👍 2

B Since the plan is to drop the destination schema and replace it with data source schema.
stilferx 👍 1 Answered B

IMHO, B and only B. Not D, because it is about partitions, not A, C, D - because of completely different purpose. A may be, generally, but it is not what a question about.
VAzureD 👍 1 Answered B

Overwrite https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fabric/data-factory/copy-data-activity#configure-your-source-under-the-source-tab Expand Advanced for more advanced settings.
a_51 👍 1 Answered B

B, the tool tip for Overwrite tells you: "Enable overwrite table option to overwrite the existing data and schema in the table using the new values"

Show 3 more comments

NRezgui 👍 1 Answered B

From the Destination tab, set Table action to Overwrite.
Egocentric 👍 1 Answered B

Destination tab set table action to overwrite
Momoanwar 👍 8 Answered B

Replace all with overwrite

Reader comments & corrections

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