Can't decrease length of a field, even though there isn't any data exceeding new max length - Support and Troubleshooting

Can't decrease length of a field, even though there isn't any data exceeding new max length Description  Symptoms When trying to decrease the max length for a field, errors similar to the one below will display at the header of the dictionary record:

"Length change not allowed. The field ' ' on table ' ' contains existing data records ( ) that exceed the new length of . Invalid update" Release All currently supported versions.

Cause Even though the "Character count" for the field in all the records with data in them, does not exceed the desired Max length, the database takes into consideration the bytes consumed, not the characters.

The number of bytes special characters consume affect the number of bytes counted which will not always be the number of characters displayed (for example the smart/curtly quotes ( ‘ ’ as opposed to ' ').

Another possibility is that the field which I want to change is encrypted, that also affects the number of bytes stored

Resolution There are some websites which are a helpful tool to Counts bytes or Characters in order to double-check the data stored in the fields.

To decrease the Max length of the field, I need to decrease the data stored in that field for the records exceeding the limit. See Modify string field length . The reason behind the platform's restriction is to avoid data being removed unintentionally from the instance.

(If help is needed to identify the specific records which exceed the desired max length, Service Now Customer Support may assist.)