query cannot complete number lookup columns exceeds threshold

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Posted on by CU29092301-0

My App isn't taking in any data updates.

Is there a workaround for this issue? What is the first thing I should do? Anny help is appreciated.

The App has a number of different data sources per screen, and I believe a number of them are over the column lookup threshold.

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Building Power Apps

Error handling

Power Query

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MarkRahn 1,412 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @CU29092301-0

Did you try any of the suggestions from the last time you asked similar question on April 15, 2026?

Error retrieving data Query cannot complete number of lookup columns exceeds lookup threshold

It seems that @Pstork1 and @Vish WR gave some good suggestions on trying to use a Flow to retrieve the SP List items.

Did any of those suggestions work?

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Valantis 6,438 on at

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Hi @CU29092301-0,

This is the SharePoint lookup column threshold error. It happens when a list has more than 5000 items and the view or query you're hitting from Power Apps touches more lookup-type columns (Lookup, Person/Group, Choice, Managed Metadata) than the threshold allows, default is 8 per query.

First thing to check: which list(s) are over 5000 items. Go to the list settings in SharePoint and check item count, or just count roughly from the all items view.
Fastest fix: in Power Apps, on the screen pulling from that data source, reduce how many lookup/person columns you're referencing in the same Filter, Sort, or gallery Items formula.

Every lookup column you reference in a single query counts toward the threshold, including ones used just for display in a gallery if the underlying SharePoint view loads them.

Longer term fix on the SharePoint side: a site collection admin can raise the threshold (Central Admin or via PowerShell Set-SPWebApplication -ListViewLookupThreshold) for that web app, but Microsoft caps this and discourages raising it past a reasonable number for performance reasons.

Better long term fix: index the lookup/person columns you filter on most often. Go to List settings > Indexed columns > Create a new index on the specific lookup or person column you filter by. Indexed columns are exempt from this threshold for filtering purposes.

Start by identifying exactly which screen and which data source is failing, then check how many lookup-type columns that screen's formulas reference against that specific list.

Best regards,

Valantis

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WarrenBelz 155,686 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Hi @CU29092301-0,

Adding to this, you might watch this video on retreiving records to Power Apps with a Flow.

However this list is going to cause you other ongoing grief and I would urge you to consider getting your Lookup/Person column count down to 12 or less - there are many options to do this effectively, particularly lookup which themselves are generally unnecessary with Power Apps (I never use them) and cause further restrictions, including reading/writing complexities and not being able to sort with Delegation.

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MS.Ragavendar 7,339 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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@CU29092301-0,

I believe you are using the SharePoint as Data-Source, The limit is 12 columns if the columns are exceed the limit you will encounter this issue. Person or Group column is also considered as Lookup column in the SharePoint.

The only way to avoid this issue is to limit your views to less than 12 lookup column types mentioned above.

To be clear, you can have as many columns as you wish on a list or library, as long you do not exceed the 12 “lookup” ones in a single view. So, if you encounter the above limit, just hide some of the “lookup” columns from a view to fix it.

Where appropriate, use other types of columns instead of the lookup columns (i.e., Choice instead of Managed Metadata) since those do not count against the limit

If you do have many columns you need to display – create additional views on a list or library – just keep the number of “lookup” columns under 12 in any given view.

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