The entire top is removed, with a cord operated sawzall, and no battery operated multi tool, from the side first to cut the nails. You don’t try for tiny pieces. It’s a brutal dusty and heavy job. And there is no point in trying to keep the vanity under such a top. Cut it all up into chunks and remove it.

"If I use a putty knife, mini pry bar, and hammer, the tile shatters into tiny pieces."

Typically it will be. Prybar sawzall and or and or a sledge hammer are the typical ways to accomplish this work, hence why it is called demolition. Multi-purpose tools in my opinion are great but more for selective demo, small area removal, not straight up demo.

Put a diamond blade on a grinder and cut the top in half. Stick a pry bar in the slot and pull one side then the other.

I don't get it, you're trying to get the tile off but leave the countertop in-tact? Is it an old fashioned mudbed underneath or was the tile put over something else like CBU?

Either way, probably not worth your time, take the whole countertop off, dispose of it. You won't be able to re-use that substrate anyway. And yes: any good mortar job on a tile install will leave you with tile that will fail(need to be shattered) before it will come away from the substrate and it is going to be a mess. Wear eye protection and a respirator. If the tile just came up in whole pieces easily it would be a bad install.

If you want to cut the whole top off, what everyone else said: sawzall. If you don't have one, find a friend. Also, all sawzall blades are not created equally, get a good one that is made for going through nails.

Well, this is my duh! moment or "Senior" moment! I saw a video of someone removing tile with a multi tool...I did not pay attention that he was removing tile from drywall, not plywood.

I don't plan on reusing the plywood. We have a sawzall that we can use. I was going to keep the plywood so I can still use the counter. I just wanted the tile gone. So, I will remove the entire top and stick a temporary piece of plywood on it. Another duh moment!

I am putting quartzite on the counter. With stone, I would not have plywood on top of the cabinet. Am I right? Thanks

Depends on where you are and the typical thickness. West coast use 2 cm and plywood, east coast uses 3 cm and no plywood typically.

Any vanity old enough to have a tile counter, is not one that you would put quartzite on top of. Get rid of it all. It’s far easier. You don’t have to worry about not damaging the vanity.

Thanks, Millworkman. We live in Oklahoma so I will call the local stone yard to see what thickness the quartzite is. I think I saw 2 cm and 3 cm slabs the last time I visited a stone yard. I got lucky, and found quartzite and marble remnants that will work for my bathroom cabinets. The marble will cost me $25.00 per sf plus $75.00 for the cut outs. The quartzite will cost $40.00 per sf. What a deal!

Celadon, we had an L shaped cabinet in there that was built in the 90s by a local guy. That same cabinet guy built us a new cabinet that is not L shaped. We had him build a new cabinet, but unfortunately, he did not look under the cabinet to see where the plumbing lines came out of the concrete. He brought the cabinet, and I noticed that the plumbing lines would come up about 1.5" in front of where the new cabinet will be. He took it back to his shop to fix it. He brought it back when I wasn't home, and my husband paid him. I noticed later that he did not fix the problem. I called him, and he had moved to Florida. He said he didn't know how to fix it. So, I took off the finished side panel, and bought oak plywood, stained it, and attached it to the cabinet side. Now, the cabinet is 25" deep.

Countertop and wall tile has been removed. One thing always leads to another in this house.