CURIOUS_DE
Valued Contributor

No, it is not possible to disable Photon for Databricks Serverless SQL Warehouses.

Why Photon Cannot Be Disabled:

  • Photon is always enabled on Serverless SQL Warehouses as part of Databricks’ architecture.

  • Serverless SQL is built on Photon to ensure high performance and cost efficiency, and users cannot configure or disable it.

  • Unlike classic or pro SQL warehouses(Use a Pro or Classic SQL Warehouse (not serverless)), where you can choose compute settings, serverless handles infrastructure automatically—including the Photon engine.

  • Photon Enable/Disable  only available with compute not with SQL DataWarehouse.
 
Databricks Solution Architect