---
schema_version: "1"
id: 7c8a81a45cea2e06e9682caf705ca6beaece368242cbb212a18710b53a3a4b0f
title: Data Extension Error Messages
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/mktg/264-0-0/mc_es_data_extension_error_messages.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_es_data_extension_error_messages.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 9f3ce938abb0ed5f5000cd1cc2f44d9d35894f8d1ae1c7ee6aee782f9e8ed748
description: Use this information to resolve errors involving data extensions in Email Studio.
products:
  - Marketing
  - Marketing Cloud Engagement
release: "264"
---
# Data Extension Error Messages

Use this information to resolve errors involving data extensions in Email Studio.

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small ">
      <colgroup>
        <col style="width:50%">
        <col style="width:50%">
      </colgroup>
      <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
        <tr class="">
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d10618e36">Error</th>
          <th scope="col" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" id="d10618e39">Description</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Specify a Name</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Specify a name</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you
              try to save the data extension when the Name field for the data extension is NULL.
              Correct this error by entering a value in the Name field for the data
              extension.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Object Name Already Exists</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>An object named &lt;object name&gt; already
                exists.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save a data extension (new or
              modified) with a value in the Name field that matches the name of a data extension
              that already exists. Correct this error by using a different data extension
              name.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">External Key Already Exists</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>An object with external key &lt;external key&gt; already
                exists.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when try to save the data extension when the
              value in the External Key field for the data extension is the same as the External
              Key for a data extension that already exists. Correct this error by using a
              different external key value.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Cannot Be Blank</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Field name cannot be blank.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error
              occurs when you try to save the data extension when the Name field for one of the
              columns is NULL. Correct this error by entering a name for the field or deleting the
              column from the data extension.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Already Exists</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>A field named &lt;column name&gt; already exists on
                object &lt;object name&gt;.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you create a column in a
              data extension with the same name as a column that already exists. Correct this
              error by changing the field name.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Text Field with No Length Cannot Be Primary Key</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>A text field with no length specified cannot be used
                as primary key.</code>
            </p>
            <p>This error occurs when you select the <strong>Primary Key</strong>
              checkbox for a column whose Data type is Text and whose Length field is NULL.
              Correct this error by taking one of these steps:</p>
            <ul>
              <li>Specify a maximum length for the Data Type field in the primary key.</li>

              <li>Clear the Primary Key checkbox for the text field.</li>

              <li>Change the Data type of the text field to a different value.</li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Primary Key Cannot Be Nullable</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>A primary key field cannot be
                nullable.</code>
            </p>
            <p>This error occurs when you try to save the data extension when
              both the <strong class="uicontrol">Primary Key</strong> checkbox and the
              <strong class="uicontrol">Nullable</strong> checkbox are selected for a column. Correct this
              error by taking one of these actions:
            </p>
            <ul>
              <li>Clear the <strong class="uicontrol">Primary Key</strong> checkbox for the column.</li>

              <li>Clear the <strong class="uicontrol">Nullable</strong> checkbox for the column.</li>

              <li>Clear both the <strong class="uicontrol">Primary Key</strong> checkbox and the
                <strong class="uicontrol">Nullable</strong> checkbox for the column.
              </li>

            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Cannot Contain Illegal Characters</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Cannot contain illegal characters:</code>
            </p>
            <p>This
              error occurs when you try to save the data extension and the name contains one of
              these characters:</p>
            <ul>
              <li> ! </li>

              <li> @ </li>

              <li> # </li>

              <li> $ </li>

              <li> % </li>

              <li> ^ </li>

              <li> * </li>

              <li> ( </li>

              <li> ) </li>

              <li> _ </li>

              <li> = </li>

              <li> { </li>

              <li> } </li>

              <li> [ </li>

              <li> ] </li>

              <li> \ </li>

              <li> . </li>

              <li> &lt; </li>

              <li> &gt; </li>

              <li> ? </li>

              <li> / </li>

              <li> ' </li>

            </ul>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Correct this error by removing the illegal character.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">External Key Cannot Exceed 36 Characters</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The external key cannot be longer than 36
                characters.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension and
              the length of the value in the External Key field is greater than 36 characters.
              Correct this error by reducing the number of characters in the External Key value to
              36 or fewer.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Data Extension Name Cannot Exceed 128 Characters</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The data extension name cannot be longer than 128
                characters.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension
              when the length of the value in the Name field is greater than 128 characters.
              Correct this error by reducing the number of characters in the Name field to 128 or
              fewer.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Data Extension Name Cannot Be Blank</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The data extension name cannot be
                blank.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension when the
              Name field is NULL. Correct this error by entering a name value in the Name
              field.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Data Extension Name Cannot Begin with an Underscore</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The data extension name cannot begin with an
                underscore.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension
              when the first character in the value in the Name field is _. Correct this error by
              entering a number or letter as the first character in the name.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Data Extension Name Cannot Consist Entirely of Numbers</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The data extension name cannot consist entirely of
                numbers.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension when
              the value in the Name field includes only numbers. Correct this error by entering a
              letter in the value.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Cannot Be Blank</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Field name cannot be blank.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error
              occurs when you try to save the data extension when the Name field for the column is
              NULL. Correct this error by entering a value in the Name field for the
              column.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Cannot Begin with Underscore</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Field name cannot begin with an
                underscore.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension
              when the first character in the value for the field name is _. Correct this error by
              entering a number or letter as the first character in the name.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Cannot Consist Entirely of Numbers</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Field name cannot consist entirely of
                numbers.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension when
              the value in the Name field includes only numbers. Correct this error by entering a
              letter in the value.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Field Name Cannot Be Longer Than 128 Characters</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>Field name cannot be longer than 128
                characters.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension
              when the length of the field name value is greater than 128 characters. Correct this
              error by reducing the number of characters in the Name field to 128 or
              fewer.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Length of an Existing Text Field Cannot Be Decreased</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>
              <code>The length of an existing Text field cannot be
                decreased.</code>
            </p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">This error occurs when you try to modify a previously saved
              data extension by reducing the character length of a text-type field. This change
              could result in the loss of data. Correct this error by entering a character length
              for the field that is the same or greater than it was at the time the data extension
              was previously saved.</p>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">File Location Cannot be Blank</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">
            <p>This error occurs when you try to import into a data extension and your default
              file location is modified.</p>
            <p>The default settings are:</p>
            <ul>
              <li>Name: ExactTarget Enhanced FTP Import</li>
              <li>External Key: ExactTarget Enhanced FTP Import </li>
              <li>Description: Enhanced FTP Import Directory </li>
              <li>Location Type: Enhanced FTP Site Import Directory</li>
            </ul>
          </td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">Error Updating Filter</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">This error occurs when you try to save the data extension when the Name field for
            the data extension has a space before or after the first or last letter in the field.
            Correct this error by removing extra spaces from the Name field.</td>

        </tr>
        <tr class="">
          <td data-label="Error" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e36 ">The deletion of the Object is not currently allowed, therefore the Object cannot
            be renamed</td>

          <td data-label="Description" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d10618e39 ">This error can occur when you attempt to rename or delete a data extension.
            Correct the error by enabling the Allow users to delete this Data Extension option in
            <a href="https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=mktg.mc_cab_manage_data_extension_policies.htm&amp;language=en_US" target="_blank">Manage Data Extension Policies</a>.
          </td>

        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>