web
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
close
Skip to main content
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id : 5QgUSJx/EL/M29VR7hH7Ze
Power Automate - General Discussion
Unanswered

SharePoint lookup column threshold enforced by the administrator.

Like (0) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on 18 Feb 2019 14:42:22 by

Hello,

I am trying to create a list item through MS flow event and i'm receiving below error. any idea ? Its sharepoint online.

 

The query cannot be completed because the number of lookup columns it contains exceeds the lookup column threshold enforced by the administrator.
clientRequestId: e4b095da-0e06-40a3-bea3-7e3dd6656d90
serviceRequestId: 3607c19e-9055-8000-0ff9-10831eaeea9a

I have the same question (0)
  • Community Power Platform Member Profile Picture
    on 21 Feb 2019 at 04:29:40
    Re: SharePoint lookup column threshold enforced by the administrator.

    Akumar - I ran into this issue just last week. Let me explain:

    We discovered this issue not while using Flow, but while using PowerApps, but it's the same issue. Flow, PowerApps, etc. - basically all of MS's PowerSuite Apps can only "talk to" SP Lists with 12 or fewer "Look-up" column Types. 

    If you're like me, at first was like wtfmate I only have a couple, like 5, but the reality is different... Here is a quote I found online: "Standard lookup columns, single-value managed metadata, multiple-value managed metadata, single-value people and group columns, and multiple-value people and group columns , Workflow Status , Created by , Modified by ( people ) are obviously counted as lookup columns .

     

    Additionally following columns shows on list view also work as lookup columns , Name ( linked to Document) , Link (Edit to edit item) , Name ( linked to Document with edit menu), type ( icon linked to document)"

    So, literally, OOtB a SharePoint list already uses up 2 of the possible 12 look-up columns allocated to you because of the "Created By" and "Modified By" columns - which you cannot delete. 

    You will need to remove all people-picker columns, managed metadata columns, etc. until you are down to 12 or less for Flow/PowerApps to be able to talk to your SP List. 

    The List I was trying to connect to in PowerApps had 14 people-picker columns + Created By + Modified By, meaning I had 16 "look-up" columns, so I had to get rid of 4 of my custom-built people-picker columns to connect to PowerApps. 

     

    Here is the article I think I got that quote from: https://powerusers.microsoft.com/t5/General-Discussion/SharePoint-too-many-lookup-columns-cause-query-failure-PowerApps/td-p/12211 

  • Community Power Platform Member Profile Picture
    on 19 Feb 2019 at 01:00:11
    Re: SharePoint lookup column threshold enforced by the administrator.

    Hi @Anonymous ,

     

    It looks like your SharePoint list exceeded the 12 lookups limit. Make sure the view you are querying doesn't have more than 12 lookups in it. 

     

    get-items.png

    Hope this helps!

     

    Good luck,

    Daniel

Under review

Thank you for your reply! To ensure a great experience for everyone, your content is awaiting approval by our Community Managers. Please check back later.

Helpful resources

Quick Links

Responsible AI policies

As AI tools become more common, we’re introducing a Responsible AI Use…

Telen Wang – Community Spotlight

We are honored to recognize Telen Wang as our August 2025 Community…

Congratulations to the July Top 10 Community Leaders!

These are the community rock stars!

Leaderboard > Power Automate

#1
Tomac Profile Picture

Tomac 986 Moderator

#2
stampcoin Profile Picture

stampcoin 699 Super User 2025 Season 2

#3
Riyaz_riz11 Profile Picture

Riyaz_riz11 577 Super User 2025 Season 2

Loading complete