Fixing “Cannot add a new column...” Error Message

Tables are the most commonly used MS Access database component for storing database records. A database user can easily add and modify records saved in the tables. However, addition, deletion, or modification becomes impossible in case the table gets severely corrupted or damaged. In such cases, if the user needs to access the table records or wants to perform any of the above operations, then the user needs to restore the table from an updated backup. However if in case, the backup is not available or backup fails to restore the data, then you will need to repair the table. To effectively do so, you will need to use advanced third-party access repair software.

Consider a practical scenario, where you receive the below error message while attempting to add a new column in the table:

“Cannot add a new column to conflict table '|'. Delete obsolete columns and compact the
database.”

As described in the error message, the no column can be added in the table, as the table is corrupted.

Cause:

Few main reasons for corruption of the table could be simultaneous modification of table records by two or more users, virus attack, human errors, and more.

Resolution:

To resolve the above error message, you will need to delete the obsolete columns, and compact and repair the table. To do so, you will need to follow the below steps:

1.From the Toolbar menu, Click on 'Tools'.
2.In the 'Database Utilities' list, click 'Compact and Repair Database'.
3.In the 'Database to Compact From', select the damaged database. Click 'Compact'.
4.When the repair process is finished, provide a new name to the database. Click 'Save'.

While compacting helps in resolving the error message in most cases, there are certain situations where these steps fail to resolve the issue. These cases occur when the Access database file is corrupted badly. In such scenarios, you will need to use an effective access database repair application to repair the table. Such Access Repair tools use powerful and latest repairing procedures to repair the corrupt Access database components.