# Newbie Metadata File Error
**URL:** https://forum.qiime2.org/t/newbie-metadata-file-error/26648
**Category:** Technical Support
**Tags:** metadata
**Created:** [May 30, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/newbie-metadata-file-error/26648 "2023-05-30T15:52:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@axia](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/axia)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/newbie-metadata-file-error/26648/1 "2023-05-30T15:52:45Z")
Hello! I am new to the world of qiime2 and receiving a metadata error message in my terminal. I am using MacOS with a newly updated qiime2, version qiime2-2023.2
**I am trying to run the command:**
qiime feature-table filter-samples
--i-table table\_natural\_na.qza
--m-metadata-file manumapping\_corrected\_19.txt
--p-where "[Especie] IN ('attas', 'attabis', 'attalae', 'attacap', 'lab')" \
--o-filtered-table table\_species\_Alex1.qza
**My exact error message is:**
**There was an issue with loading the file as metadata:**
**Metadata file path doesn't exist, or the path points to something other than a file. Please check that the path exists, has read permissions, and points to a regular file (not a directory):**
**There may be more errors present in the metadata file. To get a full report, sample/feature metadata files can be validated with Keemei: [https://keemei.qiime2.org](https://keemei.qiime2.org)**
**Find details on QIIME 2 metadata requirements here: [Metadata in QIIME 2 — QIIME 2 2023.2.0 documentation](https://docs.qiime2.org/2023.2/tutorials/metadata/)**
I am 100% positive that I have the correct file name and that I am in the correct directory (as I saw in other forum posts with the same error message). I know that the file is present also because it shows up when I run ls command. I can open the file as a text (tab space) and excel is perfectly fine so I know the file also does not have issues. I also ran Keemei which reported no issues for qiime2 metadata. I have no idea what I am doing wrong or how the path couldn't exist otherwise, does anyone have any advice on how to fix this? Thank you!
---
### Author:  [@colinbrislawn](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/colinbrislawn)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/newbie-metadata-file-error/26648/2 "2023-05-30T20:22:25Z")
Hello @axia,
Welcome to the forums :qiime2:
> [@axia](#):
>
> I am 100% positive that I have the correct file name and that I am in the correct directory (as I saw in other forum posts with the same error message). I know that the file is present also because it shows up when I run ls command.
Mysterious! Because you know the file path is correct, I wonder if the Qiime2 command is messed up in a subtle way.
I noticed that the command you ran has one line ending in a backslash:
```plaintext
qiime feature-table filter-samples
--i-table table_natural_na.qza
--m-metadata-file manumapping_corrected_19.txt
--p-where "[Especie] IN ('example')" \ <------- this backslash
--o-filtered-table table_species_Alex1.qza
```
Linux command _usually_ are on a single line
`qiime info`
To continue a command onto a second line, you add a \ backslash \
```bash
qiime \
info # This should work
qiime
info # This will not
```
Try this command:
```auto
qiime feature-table filter-samples \
--i-table table_natural_na.qza \
--m-metadata-file manumapping_corrected_19.txt \
--p-where "[Especie] IN ('attas', 'attabis', 'attalae', 'attacap', 'lab')" \
--o-filtered-table table_species_Alex1.qza # the final line has no backslash
```
---
### Author:  [@system](https://forum.qiime2.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://forum.qiime2.org/t/newbie-metadata-file-error/26648/3 "2023-07-01T02:22:52Z")
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