Azure Machine Learning: Workspace deletion fails: Internal Server Error (unused workspace, no compute, no locks)

Question

Azure Machine Learning: Workspace deletion fails: Internal Server Error (unused workspace, no compute, no locks)

Laurenz Merth 0

Service: Azure Machine Learning (workspace), Azure CLI

Scenario: I created an Azure ML workspace as part of an initial setup. The workspace was never actually used — no compute instances, clusters, or jobs were ever created. I now need to delete it because it is blocking a later step in my deployment and I want to recreate it cleanly.

The workspace originally had an auto-created Application Insights instance and an auto-created Log Analytics workspace linked to it. Both of those were deleted successfully beforehand. The remaining ML workspace itself cannot be deleted.

Result: Deletion via the Azure Portal (Workspace → Overview → Delete) fails with: "Internal Server Error"

Deletion via Azure CLI fails with the same error: az ml workspace delete --name <workspace-name> --resource-group <rg-name> --yes

Environment:

Resource group also contains a Key Vault and a Storage Account that are shared with other resources. The Key Vault must NOT be deleted
For this reason I have intentionally avoided the --all-resources flag
No resource locks present on workspace or resource group

Troubleshooting efforts:

Checked for resource locks (Resource Group → Locks) — none found
Confirmed no compute instances/clusters exist under the workspace
Deleted the linked Application Insights and Log Analytics workspace successfully first
Retried deletion via Portal after browser refresh — same error
Retried deletion via Azure CLI (az ml workspace delete without --all-resources) — same Internal Server Error

Reproducible steps:

Navigate to the ML workspace in the Azure Portal
Click Delete
Confirm by typing the workspace name
Error appears: "Internal Server Error"

Supporting materials: Happy to provide more details.

Thanks in advance.

Manish Deshpande 7,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-30T19:41:33.8333333+00:00

Hello @Laurenz Merth

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A. We’re looking into the issue and will get back to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, could you please share the details requested in Private Message?

Alternate Workaround:

Access your workspace by using the Azure Machine Learning Studio or Azure CLI/SDK to identify any managed online endpoint and/or batch endpoint resources associated with this workspace.

Delete the managed online endpoint(s) and/or batch endpoint(s), as nested resources of this workspace.

Then try to delete the workspace again after all nested resources are deleted.
Laurenz Merth 0 Reputation points

2026-07-30T20:12:47.05+00:00

Hello @Manish Deshpande

Thank you for looking into this. I've forwarded the requested details via the private chat.

I've also double-checked and can confirm that no endpoints exist in the workspace. So the suggested workaround wouldn't have any effect in my case, since that condition was already true before I attempted the deletion.

1 answer

Your answer

Manish Deshpande 7,815 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-30T19:41:33.8333333+00:00

Hello @Laurenz Merth

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A. We’re looking into the issue and will get back to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, could you please share the details requested in Private Message?

Alternate Workaround:

Access your workspace by using the Azure Machine Learning Studio or Azure CLI/SDK to identify any managed online endpoint and/or batch endpoint resources associated with this workspace.

Delete the managed online endpoint(s) and/or batch endpoint(s), as nested resources of this workspace.

Then try to delete the workspace again after all nested resources are deleted.
Laurenz Merth 0 Reputation points

2026-07-30T20:12:47.05+00:00

Hello @Manish Deshpande

Thank you for looking into this. I've forwarded the requested details via the private chat.

I've also double-checked and can confirm that no endpoints exist in the workspace. So the suggested workaround wouldn't have any effect in my case, since that condition was already true before I attempted the deletion.

Answer 1

Hi @Laurenz Merth

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A. I understand you are having issues deleting a workspace in Azure Machine Learning.

With the troubleshooting you have already completed, it appears to be a backend Azure Machine Learning workspace deletion issue rather than a configuration problem.

I recommend you open an Azure support request at https://azure.microsoft.com/support/create-ticket/ and include the details above, along with a note that the workspace had no compute resources, no locks, and that the linked Application Insights and Log Analytics resources have already been removed.

To give the support team the best chance of investigating and mitigating it, you should provide the subscription ID, resource group name, workspace name, the exact time of the failed delete attempt, the full portal or CLI error output, and any correlation or request ID returned by the failed operation.

I am very sorry you are experiencing this issue, but I expect this to be resolved soon for you once a backend engineer gets involved.

If you find this to be helpful, please 'upvote' and mark the answer as 'accepted', as this will help others who experience the same issue.

Best regards,

Andrew Taylor

Laurenz Merth 0 Reputation points

2026-07-30T20:17:01.6433333+00:00

Hi @Andrew Taylor - COREZENN ,

Thank you for confirming this — that matches my own suspicion as well.

Unfortunately, I'm currently unable to open a direct Azure support request through that link, as my support plan is at the Developer tier, which does not include this type of technical support case. This is exactly why I turned to the Q&A forum instead.

Is there any alternative way to get this escalated to the backend engineering team from here, or would you be able to help facilitate that on your end?

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

Laurenz Merth