218 Character limit Error message originating from SharePoint

Question

On our sharepoint site we have excel files that are worked on by different departments. Most people that work these excel files will open and work the workbook in the desktop app and not the browser (part of the reason is that the file is a macro enabled file).

On several random occasions, the users of these excel files when trying to save - will see the error message below and will not be able to save their work and ultimately lose their work. However, they will immediately re-open the same workbook that threw this error, make their changes again and then successfully save.

We are not able to reproduce this error message on the SAME EXACT file with any consistency. It seems as though sometimes it gives this error when saving and at other times it saves perfectly fine.

Any ideas as to what is making this happen? Thanks!

Answer 1

Dear SeinaL,

Good day! Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

From your description, it seems like the error prompts randomly when your users try to edit and save the excel files in the desktop app to SharePoint.

Based on the error messages you're getting, we’d suggest you try these steps to check the outcomes:

1. Move the file to root folder if it’s under in subfolders to make sure the path is not too long. For your reference: Error message when you open or save a file in Microsoft Excel: "Filename is not valid" - Microsoft Support
2. Rename the file to a shorter name and delete the special characters if appeared in the file name. For your reference: Restrictions and limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint - Microsoft Support

It is also recommended to copy the file into a new excel and reupload it to SharePoint, check if the same problem will occur.

If the scenario above is not consistent with yours, you can also post back and point that. At the same time, to better understand your situation, could you please provide the information below?

1. May I know the version of the Office app on both working and non-working devices? To check version information, open any Office app, such as Excel, click File>Account, check for the info mentioned under Product.
2. Do the users encounter the same error on other files?

Your cooperation is highly appreciated.

Best Regards,

Rhoda| Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

Hi Rhoda,

1. May I know the version of the Office app on both working and non-working devices? To check version information, open any Office app, such as Excel, click File>Account, check for the info mentioned under Product. We are on Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise licensing
2. Do the users encounter the same error on other files? Yes, I just threw the error on a different file in a different SP site and then I closed the file and reopened again, resaved my changes again and it saved.

It does appear to be random...?

Thanks!

Answer 3

Hi SeinaL,

We appreciate that you posted back and confirmed the scenario with us.

From your description, it seems that you encountered the error message on different files in different SP site, and the error prompted randomly.

Given this situation, we do understand the inconvenience caused and apologize for it. Since we cannot reproduce the same situation as yours, and different users, different files and different sites have the same problem, this issue may be related to your tenant and may need to be checked from background. The best way to troubleshoot the issue is to report the issue to the related Team. We’d suggest you contact your office 365 administrator to go to Office 365 Admin Center-> Support-> New Service Request, the support engineers there have the correct escalation channel, and this is the most efficient way to report such issue. You can refer to this article to check the way how to raise a ticket. Ways to contact support for business products - Admin help. The engineers in related team have higher permission and resources than us to help check the root cause from background directly.

Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. I hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Sincerely,

Rhoda | Microsoft Community Moderator