SQL Server Error 14262

Error number

14262

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

1

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

SQL Server editions that include SQL Server Agent (2016 to 2025), Azure SQL Managed Instance

Category

SQL Server Agent

Last reviewed

24 October 2026

What it means

Error 14262 means an msdb procedure was given a job, schedule or other Agent object name (or id) that does not exist in msdb on the server you are connected to.

Agent procedures in msdb (sp_start_job, sp_update_job, sp_delete_job, sp_add_jobstep and others) first resolve the name or id you pass through helper procedures such as sp_verify_job_identifiers. If nothing matches, they raise 14262 and do nothing else. That is why the message names the helper procedure rather than the one you called.

Read the two parts in the message: the first is the parameter that failed (@job_name, @job_id, @schedule_name and so on), the second is the exact value that was passed, so typos, extra spaces and placeholder values are visible right there. 14262 is checked before SQL Server Agent is contacted, so you get it even when Agent is stopped; for a job that exists while Agent is stopped you get error 22022 instead.

Common causes

• A typo, different spelling or extra space in the job name, or the display name in SSMS differs from the real name.
• The script runs on a different server than the job lives on (a failover partner, another environment or another instance).
• The job was renamed, deleted or not yet created, for example in a deployment that runs steps in the wrong order.
• A @job_id copied from another server: job ids are generated per server, so the same job has a different id elsewhere.
• The name of another object is wrong: a schedule, operator or step name passed to the matching procedure.

Diagnose it

Read-only These queries only read metadata and dynamic management views. They do not change data, permissions or configuration, so they are safe to run first.

SELECT job_id, name, enabled, DATALENGTH(name) / 2 AS name_length, date_modified
FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobs
WHERE name LIKE N'%ETL%'
ORDER BY name;

SELECT @@SERVERNAME AS server_name, SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName') AS instance_name;

SELECT schedule_id, name, enabled, date_modified
FROM msdb.dbo.sysschedules
WHERE name LIKE N'%Nightly%'
ORDER BY name;

How to fix it

Each fix is labelled with what it changes. Try read-only checks and the least invasive fix first, and test changes outside production.

DECLARE @id uniqueidentifier =
    (SELECT job_id FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobs WHERE name = N'Nightly ETL');
IF @id IS NULL
    THROW 50001, N'Job Nightly ETL does not exist on this server.', 1;
EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_start_job @job_id = @id;

IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobs WHERE name = N'Nightly ETL')
    EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_delete_job @job_name = N'Nightly ETL';

Examples

Starting a job that does not exist

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_start_job @job_name = N'Nightly ETL';

Msg 14262, Level 16, State 1, Procedure sp_verify_job_identifiers, Line 67
The specified @job_name ('Nightly ETL') does not exist.

Deleting a schedule by a name that does not exist

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_delete_schedule @schedule_name = N'Nightly';

Msg 14262, Level 16, State 1, Procedure msdb.dbo.sp_verify_schedule_identifiers, Line 138
The specified @schedule_name ('Nightly') does not exist.

How to prevent it

Keep job definitions in source control and deploy them with idempotent scripts that check msdb.dbo.sysjobs before creating, updating or deleting. When jobs must exist on several servers (failover partners, availability group replicas), deploy them to every server and compare the job lists regularly.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• Stored procedures and functions

Official documentation

• sp_start_job (Transact-SQL)
• sp_delete_job (Transact-SQL)
• dbo.sysjobs (Transact-SQL)

Last technically reviewed 24 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.