How to fix ERROR 1214: Table type doesn't support FULLTEXT in MySQL

Connect to your MySQL server and check the version:

SELECT VERSION();

If you're running MySQL 5.6.4 or later, InnoDB supports FULLTEXT. Earlier versions require MyISAM for FULLTEXT support.

Identify which storage engine your table is using:

SHOW CREATE TABLE your_table_name\G

Or:

SELECT ENGINE FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME='your_table_name';

Look for "ENGINE=InnoDB", "ENGINE=MyISAM", or another engine type in the output.

If your table uses MEMORY, ARCHIVE, or another unsupported engine, convert it to MyISAM (simpler) or InnoDB (better for modern MySQL):

For MyISAM (works on all MySQL versions):

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ENGINE = MyISAM;

For InnoDB (MySQL 5.6.4+ only):

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ENGINE = InnoDB;

Warning: Converting to MyISAM removes transactional support. InnoDB is recommended if your application uses transactions.

After converting the engine, create the FULLTEXT index:

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD FULLTEXT INDEX ft_index (column_name);

Or for multiple columns:

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD FULLTEXT INDEX ft_index (column1, column2, column3);

Test that FULLTEXT search now works:

SELECT * FROM your_table_name WHERE MATCH(column_name) AGAINST('search_term');

If you're importing a .sql file that causes this error, preprocess the dump on Linux/macOS:

sed -i 's/) ENGINE=InnoDB/) ENGINE=MyISAM/g' your_db_dump.sql

On macOS, you may need:

sed -i '' 's/) ENGINE=InnoDB/) ENGINE=MyISAM/g' your_db_dump.sql

On Windows PowerShell:

(Get-Content your_db_dump.sql) -replace 'ENGINE=InnoDB', 'ENGINE=MyISAM' | Set-Content your_db_dump.sql

Then import the modified dump:

mysql -u username -p database_name < your_db_dump.sql

If you're on MySQL 5.5 or earlier and need FULLTEXT with transaction support, upgrade to MySQL 5.6.4 or later (preferably 8.0+). Contact your hosting provider or follow MySQL upgrade documentation. After upgrading, you can use InnoDB with FULLTEXT indexes without losing transactional capabilities.