Hi Shivap,

Totally get the confusion😀—it’s a common one! Even if you use an ADLS path when creating a catalog or schema, Unity Catalog still treats it as managed because Databricks controls the folder structure inside that path. So when you create tables under that schema, they’re considered managed tables, even though the storage is in ADLS. If you try to use the same path for an external table, it overlaps with the managed area, which Unity Catalog won’t allow. The best practice is to keep managed tables under the catalog/schema path, and for external tables, use a separate folder in ADLS that’s registered as an external location. That way, Unity Catalog clearly knows which data it manages and which one you’re managing. Let me know if you’d like a quick example of how to structure it!

Regards,

Brahma