How To Fix SF018 - Search term only contains invalid special characters

SAP Error Message - Details

• Message type: E = Error

• Message class: SF - SAPfind: Message Texts

• Message number: 018

• Message text: Search term only contains invalid special characters

What causes this issue?

Standardization of the compare process
In order to be able to search efficiently in texts it is necessary to
standardize the character strings in the text and the search terms used
in comparison. Without standardization a reliable compare process is
not possible. This standardization does not require a reduction in the
character set or any changes to the text. Character strings are
standardized as follows for search purposes only:
Strings that are separated by blanks are considered as text words.
Lower case letters are converted to upper case letters.
All special characters within or appended to text words are ignored.
Search terms retain only the special characters * and + as
placeholders.
SAPscript control characters (in pointed brackets) are ignored in text
words.

System Response

The system issues an error message and will not allow you to continue with this transaction until the error is resolved.

How to fix this error?

Avoid search terms consisting only of special characters as these will
be ignored during the search.

Error message extract from SAP system. Copyright SAP SE.