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Medium severitydata source

Power BI Refresh Error:
SqlInvalidColumnName

What does this error mean?

The ADF copy activity references a SQL column that does not exist in the source or destination table schema.

Common causes

  • 1A column name in the copy activity mapping does not match the actual column name in the SQL table
  • 2The SQL table schema was changed (column renamed or dropped) after the ADF dataset was configured
  • 3A case-sensitivity mismatch between the configured column name and the database collation

How to fix it

  1. 1Open the copy activity column mapping and compare the configured names with the current SQL table schema.
  2. 2Click "Import schema" on the ADF dataset to refresh the column list from the live database.
  3. 3Update or remove any column mappings that reference non-existent columns.

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-synapse-sql

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