What causes ParquetInvalidDataFormat?

A Parquet column contains values that cannot be converted to the mapped destination type. A date/time column in the Parquet file uses an unexpected encoding (INT96 vs INT64 timestamp). The column uses a logical type annotation that does not match the actual stored data format

How do I fix ParquetInvalidDataFormat?

Check the specific column and value that caused the format error from the ADF activity run output.. Use a data flow transformation to explicitly cast the column to the expected type before writing.. If dealing with INT96 timestamps, configure the Parquet source settings to handle the INT96 format.

Medium severitydata source

Power BI Refresh Error:
ParquetInvalidDataFormat

What does this error mean?

The data format in a Parquet column does not match what ADF expects based on the dataset schema or target column type.

Common causes

1A Parquet column contains values that cannot be converted to the mapped destination type
2A date/time column in the Parquet file uses an unexpected encoding (INT96 vs INT64 timestamp)
3The column uses a logical type annotation that does not match the actual stored data format

How to fix it

1Check the specific column and value that caused the format error from the ADF activity run output.
2Use a data flow transformation to explicitly cast the column to the expected type before writing.
3If dealing with INT96 timestamps, configure the Parquet source settings to handle the INT96 format.

Frequently asked questions

Does this error affect all pipeline runs or just the current one?

Depends on the root cause. A persistent misconfiguration fails every run; a transient issue may resolve on retry. Check the run history.

Can this error appear in Azure Data Factory and Microsoft Fabric pipelines?

Yes — the same connector errors appear in both ADF and Fabric Data Factory pipelines.

How do I see the full error detail for an ADF pipeline failure?

In ADF Monitor, click the failed run, then the failed activity. The detail pane shows the error code, message, and sub-error codes.

Will downstream Power BI datasets be affected when an ADF pipeline fails?

Yes — a dataset refreshing after the pipeline will use stale data or fail if the target table was cleared. The Power BI refresh may succeed while serving wrong data.

Official documentation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/data-factory/connector-troubleshoot-parquet