All Oracle errors
ORA-01861sql

Literal does not match format string

ORA-01861: literal does not match format string

Why it happens

The date literal and the FORMAT expression disagree — e.g. TO_DATE('2026','YYYY-MM-DD') where the string has too few parts.

How to fix it

Match the format mask to the literal exactly, or pass the date directly as 'YYYY-MM-DD' HH24:MI:SS per the exact style your table expects.

A note on ORA-01861

This entry is part of a hand-curated set of ORA-, FRM-, REP- and TNS- codes that actually turn up in production Oracle estates — SQL*Plus, APEX, 19c/21c, ODP.NET apps, Oracle Forms 6i/12c and Reports included. The message text above is the canonical wording; the cause and fix are written in plain language so a developer or DBA can act without digging through pages of Oracle reference docs first.

Codes outside this list of 44 are far less common. If you hit one, the official Oracle error reference and your instance's alert or listener log remain the authoritative source.

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