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Leebecker
New Member

[Expression.Error] The column '<column title>' of the table wasn't found. When the column is there.

Hello,

 

I often get the error [Expression.Error] The column '<column title>' of the table wasn't found.

 

I know that this means that the query can't find a particular column, but I often get the error even when the column does exist.  I'm confident that it is not an error in my query because when I refresh the query a minute later without changing anything, it runs fine.

 

I don't mind TOOOO much from my point of view because I know that it will work when I refresh it, but the problem is, I have created queries for other people, and every time they get the error, they ask me why it is happening, or they think my query doesn't work.  Also, sometimes they have changed the data, so the error really is valid.

 

Is this a bug is Power Query?  Could it be a connection problem?  Is this a known problem?  Does anyone else get this problem?  Does anyone have any suggestions for how to fix it?

 

Thank you!!!

6 REPLIES 6
v-eqin-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @Leebecker ,

 

Ok..so It may caused by someone else have modified the data(remove/delete the column).

Anyway, the error has been fixed ,right? If so, please kindly Accept a helpful post as the solution to make the thread closed. More people will benefit from it.😀

 

Best Regards,
Eyelyn Qin

Sorry no this is not the solution.  The data has definitly not been changed, but I just get the error occasionally, and then without changing anything, it works OK.

 

I wanted to check whether it is a bug or a known error with Power Query or if anyone could suggest that there is another issue that might be causing it.

v-eqin-msft
Community Support
Community Support

Hi @Leebecker ,

 

According to the error message, I think the column name——[Surname] is not quoted correctly.

 

Please check each of the Applied Steps to find the error steps.

Eyelyn9_0-1632448917655.png

 

Similar threads:

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-Query/Expression-Error-The-Column-Column-X-of-the-Table-wasn-...

https://community.powerbi.com/t5/Power-Query/Expression-Error-The-column-Column15-of-the-table-wasn-...

 

Best Regards,
Eyelyn Qin
If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have tried that.  When I go through the applied steps, there are no errors.  It is only when I refresh the query (or if someone else refreshes the query) plus, most of the time it works without me changing anything, and then just occasionally it doesn't work.

 

This is with using the same data file, the same query, not changing anything at all.  Litterally, running it again a minute later and it works.

Leebecker
New Member

Power Query Error Screenshot 2021-09-22 094248.png

Thanks for your reply.  I've taken a screenshot of the error message, and here is an example of the code.  (I've removed some of the file path information)  I also get this issue with other queries that I've got.

 

let

Source = Excel.Workbook(Web.Contents("https://**********/LiveWebinar registrant_list.xlsx"), null, true),
#"Expanded Data" = Table.ExpandTableColumn(Source, "Data", {"Column1", "Column2", "Column3", "Column4", "Column5", "Column6"}, {"Data.Column1", "Data.Column2", "Data.Column3", "Data.Column4", "Data.Column5", "Data.Column6"}),
#"Lowercased Text" = Table.TransformColumns(#"Expanded Data",{{"Data.Column3", Text.Lower, type text}}),
#"Removed Duplicates" = Table.Distinct(#"Lowercased Text", {"Data.Column3"}),
#"Removed Top Rows" = Table.Skip(#"Removed Duplicates",1),
#"Promoted Headers" = Table.PromoteHeaders(#"Removed Top Rows", [PromoteAllScalars=true]),
#"Renamed Columns" = Table.RenameColumns(#"Promoted Headers",{{" First name", "First name"}, {" Surname", "Surname"}, {" email address", "Email address"}, {" Are you:", "Are you:"}}),
#"Removed Other Columns" = Table.SelectColumns(#"Renamed Columns",{"First name", "Surname", "Email address", "Are you:"}),
#"Trimmed Text" = Table.TransformColumns(Table.TransformColumnTypes(#"Removed Other Columns", {{"Are you:", Text.Trim, type text}, {"Email address", Text.Trim, type text}, {"Surname", Text.Trim, type text}, {"First name", Text.Trim, type text}})
in
#"Trimmed Text"

edhans
Super User
Super User

Can you post a sample of your M code that is erroring out? I've not seen this as a sporadic issue, only when the column really doesn't exist.

Also, are you on the August 2021 desktop update, to ensure there are no old bugs that you might be hitting?



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