# Messages in Companies House Lookup and what to do about them This page lists the messages D2K Companies House Lookup shows in Business Central, word for word, with what each one means and what to do next. For the longer explanations behind the common ones, see [Troubleshooting](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/companies-house-troubleshooting). `%1` in a message stands for a value the app fills in, such as a registration number or a date. ## The API key and the connection | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | Companies House Setup is not configured. Open the Companies House Setup page first. | The app has not been set up in this company. Open **Companies House Setup**, or run **Set up Companies House Lookup** from **Assisted Setup**. See [Set up Companies House Lookup](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/companies-house-setup). | | Companies House API key is not configured. Open the Companies House Setup page to enter one. | No key is saved for this company. The key is per company, so each company in the tenant needs its own. Paste it into **API Key** and choose **Save API Key**. | | Companies House API key is invalid. Please re-enter it in the Companies House Setup page. | Companies House refused the saved key during a lookup. It has been revoked, or it is not a REST API key. Create a new REST key and save it again. | | Companies House rejected the API key (HTTP 401). Check that the key was copied in full and that it belongs to a REST API application. | **Test Connection** reached Companies House and the key was refused. Copy the whole key again, and check it is a REST API key and not a streaming key. | | The API key was not saved because Companies House rejected it (HTTP status %1). Check the key and try again. | **Save API Key** checks the key before storing it. A rejected key is never stored, so the previous key, if there was one, is still in place. | | An API key value is required. | **Save API Key** was chosen with nothing in **API Key**. Paste the key first. | | Enter a value in the API Key field before running this action. | The same cause: the **API Key** field is empty. | | No API key is stored for this company. Enter a key and choose Save API Key first. | **Test Connection** was chosen before any key was saved. | | Enter an API key before running Test Connection. | In the assisted setup guide, **Test Connection** was chosen with no key entered. | | No API key was entered. Go back to step 2 and enter a key before finishing. | The assisted setup guide cannot finish without a key. Choose **Back** and enter one. | | Could not reach Companies House. Check that this environment allows outbound HTTPS calls and try again. | The call never arrived. In a sandbox that was copied from production, outbound calls are switched off until an administrator allows them for the app in **Extension Management**, under **Configure**, with **Allow HttpClient Requests**. | | Companies House returned an unexpected HTTP status %1, so the API key could not be verified. Try again later. | Companies House answered, but not with a yes or a no. This is on their side. Try again later. You can save the key unverified and run **Test Connection** afterwards. | | Connection verified. Companies House accepted the API key but did not return the probe company %1 (HTTP 404), which is expected on the sandbox endpoint. | Not an error. The key works. The test company does not exist in the Companies House sandbox, which is normal when **Sandbox Mode** is on. | | API key saved. It has not been verified; run Test Connection once Companies House is reachable. | You chose to save the key although it could not be checked. Run **Test Connection** later to confirm it. | ## Looking a company up | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | The Company Registration Number "%1" is not in a recognised Companies House format. Enter 8 digits (for example 00000006) or a 2-letter prefix followed by 6 digits (for example SC123456). | What was typed is not a UK company number. Check for a VAT number or a charity number entered by mistake. To find a company by name, use **Search Companies House**. See [Look up a company](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/look-up-a-company). | | Enter a Company Registration Number, or choose Cancel. | **OK** was chosen on the **Look up company** dialog with the number left blank. | | Enter a company registration number or a company name, or choose Cancel. | **OK** was chosen on **New from Companies House** with nothing typed. | | No company found with CRN %1. Check the number. | The number has the right format but Companies House has no company with it. Check it at . | | Companies House found no companies matching "%1". Try a shorter or different name. | A name search returned nothing. Search on fewer words. See [Look up a company](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/look-up-a-company) for why a name search can miss. | | Companies House requests are throttled locally. Please try again in a few seconds. | The app stopped itself before reaching the Companies House limit of 600 requests every five minutes. Wait and try again. | | Companies House is rate-limited. Try again in a few seconds. | Companies House itself refused the call because the limit was reached, usually because something else is using the same key. Wait and try again. | | Companies House service is temporarily unavailable. Cached data is being used where available. | Companies House returned a server error. The app retries by itself and shows the snapshot it already has. | | Companies House did not respond. Try again. | The call timed out or the connection dropped. Try again. | | Unexpected response from Companies House (status %1). | Companies House answered with a status the app does not expect. Try again later, and send the row from the **Companies House API Call Log** to support if it continues. | | Companies House returned a response for CRN %1 that could not be read. Try again later. | The answer arrived but was not valid. Try again later. | | Select a company in the list first. | An action on **Companies House Search** was chosen with no row selected. | | Select a snapshot in the list first. | An action on **Companies House Snapshots** was chosen with no row selected. | ## Customers, vendors and contacts | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | This record has no Companies House registration number yet. Use Fill from Companies House, or look the company up first. | The action needs a registration number on the customer, vendor or contact. Use **Fill from Companies House** to link the record to the register. See [Customers, vendors and contacts](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/customers-vendors-and-contacts). | | Fill from Companies House works on company contacts. This contact is a person. | Only a contact of type Company can be filled from the register. Open the company contact the person belongs to. | | Only a customer, vendor or contact can be filled from the Companies House search. | **Use for this record** was chosen from a search that was not started from a customer, vendor or contact. | | The record you started from is no longer there, so it cannot be filled. | The customer, vendor or contact was deleted or renumbered while the search was open. Start again from the record. | | Select the records you want to match first. | **Match to Companies House** was chosen with no rows selected in the list. | | No %1 in this company carries registration number %2. Use the Create actions to add one from the register. | You asked to open the customer, vendor or contact for a company and none has that number. Use **Create customer**, **Create vendor** or **Create contact**. See [Create a customer, vendor or contact from a company number](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/create-from-companies-house). | ## Officers | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | Companies House did not give this officer a name, so there is nothing to create a contact from. | The register holds no name for that officer. Nothing can be created from it. | | Every officer on this list has resigned. Choose one and use Create Contact to add them anyway. | **Create Contacts for Officers in Post** found nobody still in post. Select one officer and choose **Create Contact**. See [Company officers](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/company-officers). | ## Filed documents | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | This filing has no document at Companies House, so there is nothing to download. Not every entry on the register has one. | Not an error. The **Document** column shows which filings have one. | | Companies House did not file a document for this entry, so there is nothing to download. Filings recorded before document downloads were supported also show no document until you refresh the filings for the company. | Either there is no document, or the filing was recorded by an older version of the app. Choose **Refresh** on **Companies House Filings** for that company and try again. | | Document downloads are not available in Sandbox Mode. The Companies House sandbox does not serve filed documents; turn Sandbox Mode off on Companies House Setup to download them from the live register. | Turn **Sandbox Mode** off on **Companies House Setup**. | | Companies House returned an empty document for this filing. | The download started and nothing came back. Try again later. | ## Filing watches and the background poll | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | The Company Registration Number "%1" is not in a recognised Companies House format. | A watch was added with something that is not a UK company number. | | The Companies House filing poll appears to be stalled: no watched company has been polled successfully since %1. | The hourly job has not completed when it should have. See [The background poll has stopped](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/companies-house-troubleshooting#the-background-poll-has-stopped). | | You need a D2K Companies House Lookup licence to start the background filing poll, because the poll runs as the user who starts it. Ask your administrator to assign you a licence in the Microsoft 365 admin centre, or ask a licensed user to start it. | You added the first watch, or chose **Restart poll**, without a licence for the app. The hourly job runs as whoever starts it, so that person needs a licence. See [Who needs a licence](https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/companies-house-setup#who-needs-a-licence). | | The hourly job queue entry is in error status. | Shown with the stalled message. Open the job queue entry, read its error, and set it back to Ready as a user whose licence will stay. | | Poll complete. %1 new filing event(s) recorded. %2 watched compan(y/ies) could not be polled and will be retried by the next run - check the API key on the Companies House Setup page and the Companies House API Call Log. | **Poll now** finished but some companies failed. They are retried next hour. If it repeats, run **Test Connection** and read the **Companies House API Call Log**. | ## Setup | Message | What it means and what to do | |---|---| | The default retention policies for the Companies House call log and recorded filings could not be enabled with your permissions. An administrator can enable them on the Retention Policies page. | Setup finished, but your user could not switch on the retention policies. Ask an administrator to enable them on **Retention Policies**, or the call log and the filing events will grow without limit. | --- Source: https://docs.d2k.uk/companies-house-lookup/companies-house-messages Last updated: 2026-10-08