Data table export as UTF-8 BOM, breaks import

Questions
1

Describe the problem/error/question

Export of Data Tables are encoded as “UTF-8 BOM”, which breaks the later re-import; at least it forces to correct the form to proceed (see screenshot below)

What is the error message (if any)?

“Only alphabetical and non-leading numbers and underscores allowed“ regarding the first column after uploading exported CSV for creating new Data Table.

Please share your workflow

Not related to any workflow.

Information on your n8n setup

  • n8n version: 2.12.3
  • Database (default: SQLite): PostgreSQL
  • n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main): default
  • Running n8n via (Docker, npm, n8n cloud, desktop app): Docker
  • Operating system: Linux

Screenshot 2026-03-26 at 16.52.32
Screenshot 2026-03-26 at 16.52.32705×606 22.3 KB

Screenshot 2026-03-26 at 16.53.47
Screenshot 2026-03-26 at 16.53.47384×255 14.7 KB

2

Hi @bastian_sass

Does the same thing happen in version 2.13.3 ?

3

Hey @tamy.santos, good point. Pulled the latest Docker image 2.13.4, but the behaviour stays the same: Created a fresh data table and the export was again encoded as “UTF-8 BOM”. When I tried to import, first column name was starting with “_”, giving the error shown above.

4

In this case, the ideal solution is to open an issue.