If you have created a form in Microsoft Access and you want to convert it into a report then follow these steps:
Look at our Microsoft Access Courses for more information
Shortcut keys can save you a lot of time in Microsoft Access; instead of going through all the settings you can just press a few buttons. Here are 10 most useful navigation keys that you can use.
CTRL+N – Open a new database
CTRL+O - Open an existing database
CTRL + P – Print
CTRL+Z – Undo
F5 – Switch from design view to form view
F7 – Check spelling
F12 – Open Save As box
ALT+F8 – Display the Field List.
ALT+F4 – Close Access
Why not book yourself onto one of our Microsoft Access Courses to learn more
If you wish to use a particular font for all the information in your table, you can change the default font in Access 2007 so that whenever you create a new database your preferred font is automatically set.
To change the default font:
1. Click on the Microsoft Button.
2. Click Access Options.
3. Click on the Datasheet tab:
4. In the Default Font section select your preferred font e.g. Times New Roman.
5. Select your preferred size e.g. 12.
6. Click OK.
Then click on the Object Designers Tab:
1.In the Query Design Font Section select your preferred font e.g. Times New Roman.
2. Select your preferred size from the size menu e.g. 12.
3. Click OK.
The default font for Access has now been changed.
Check out our Microsoft Access Tips page for more useful tips
Whenever creating a database it is important that you create a backup. This is because if the data gets corrupted you will not be able to restore it. To avoid this you should create a copy and Microsoft Access has a built-in functionality to achieve this by backing up your data.
Now that you have saved the file it might be worth opening the file in Access just to make sure it’s working.
Interested in learning more? Then visit our Microsoft Access Tips page or come to our Microsoft Access Courses.
Welcome to another Microsoft Access Tip. As we have discussed in previous articles, shortcut keys are a great way of saving time whilst working with different programs. In this tip, we will explain how you can add your own shortcuts to use to navigate your database
To assign a shortcut key to a field, follow these simple steps:
For example, if you wish to be able to jump to a ‘Name’ field you could edit the ‘Name’ label accordingly: N&ame
This technique can be used on any object that has a caption property and can make navigating your database a breeze.
If you would like to read about some of the keyboard shortcuts already available on Microsoft Access, take a look at our previous article: Speed up Access with Keyboard Shortcuts.
If you would like to read more tips, feel free to read our Microsoft Access Tip page.
If you would like to learn more about Microsoft Access, you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Access Training Courses.
Welcome to another Microsoft Access Tip from us at Infero. In this tip, we will explain how you can make sure that your Microsoft Access databases are secure with the use of a password. This will ensure that only you can access the database.
To begin with, you must first open the database which you would like to add the password to in a mode known as Exclusive mode. To do this, select the Microsoft Office button and select Open. Then choose which database it is that you want to put the password on and click it once.
You then click the small arrow beside the open button to open the drop down menu and then select Open Exclusive. Once you have done this, go to the Database Tools tab and select the ‘Encrypt with password’ option (highlighted in orange in the image below).
Then enter your chosen password into both the Password and confirm password box and click ok. Whenever you open your database from now on, it will prompt you to input the password.
Want to know more? Then visit our Microsoft Access Tips page.
Want to learn more about Microsoft Access? Then book yourself on one of our Microsoft Access Training Courses.
Are you tired of things taking too long whilst you are using Microsoft Access?
Do you wish there was a quicker way to add or browse through data instead of using the mouse?
Then this latest Microsoft Access Tip is for you!
We will tell you about a few of the most useful keyboard shortcuts which can be used to cut the amount of time used to complete certain tasks.
Adding new Record: use CTRL & the plus sign (+) to add new records to your Access Database.
Deleting the current record: use CTRL & the minus sign (-) to delete the current record being viewed.
Undoing any changes: if it is just the current field you want to undo changes for, press the ESC key once. If however, you want to undo any changes made to the entire record then press the ESC key twice.
Recalculating fields: pressing the F9 key will recalculate the fields shown in the window.
Undo typing: to get rid of any typing, use CTRL & Z.
Are you interested in reading more tips? Then take a look at our Microsoft Access Tips page.
Do you want to learn more about Access? Then book yourself on one of our Microsoft Access Training Courses.
So you have a database of information in Microsoft Access, however when it comes to queries it can perform poorly. The 3 tips listed below will help you better optimise your database and improve query performance.
1. Regular Compaction of Database.
When you compact your database, the records contained in that database are reorganised next to one another, getting rid of any empty space in-between them. This in turn makes the retrieval of data and query results faster.
2. Limit the number of fields returned by a query.
Limiting the number of fields a query returns drastically affects the performance by making it faster and also uses fewer resources.
3. Give the search engine less evaluations to carry out.
You can do this by using Between instead of => and <=. By using Between, you are only asking the search engine to carry out one evaluation rather than two.
Want more tips for Microsoft Access? Visit our Access Hints and Tips page.
Are you interested in learning more about Microsoft Access? Then you should book yourself on one of our Microsoft Access Training Courses.
So you are currently using Excel to store a list of information but now that list has gotten too big to keep on scrolling through and has become a time consuming chore? You should import your data into Microsoft Access which offers you powerful database tools to handle all the information.
To start importing your data, follow these steps.
Step 1: Open Access and create a blank database. Once you have done this, Access automatically brings up a table. You can close this table as it isn’t needed.
Step 2: Click the External Data tab at the top of the page and then select Excel in the Import category which will in turn bring up the Get External Data – Excel Spreadsheet wizard to help you input the data.
Step 3: Browse for the worksheet which contains the information that you would like to put in the Access database and then select the button labeled Import the source data into a new table in the current database. Click on OK to continue.
Step 4: If you have different worksheets in the same document, select which worksheet it is that you want to import and then click Next to continue.
Step 5: Next, if the spreadsheet you’re using has column heading in its first row, click the box, if not names will be generated and you’ll be able to change them later on. Then you click on Next again.
Step 6: The next screen gives you the option to leave any column that you don’t want to import out. In order to do this, you start by clicking on the first column in the preview area. If you don’t want to import that column into the table, put a check mark in the box next to Do not import field and move on to the next column. To change the name of a field, use the Field Name box to change it and then just select which type of data is in the column itself.
Step 7: Next you have to choose a Primary Key if you want one.
Step 8: Input a name for the table in the box under Import to Table and then click Finish.
Step 9: You’ll now be asked whether you want to save the import steps or not. If you are importing more than one worksheet with the same layout then you can choose this option to save you time importing future worksheets. Click close and your new table will be shown in your database.
You probably get very upset when your Microsoft Office application crashes down (closes down unexpectedly) while you are working on something important. It is not necessarily that the problem is within the Microsoft Office code. Computer viruses (read How to Protect Yourself from Viruses from Your Computer Health Part Two), disk failures, or laziness with respect to installing updates (read How to Stay up to Date Automatically from Your Computer Health Part One) are just a few issues causing this condition.
Microsoft Office Diagnostic is a tool included in Microsoft Office 2007 pack, allowing you to run a series of diagnostic tests that can help you discover why your computer is crashing. These tests will either solve problems directly or may help you with the ways to solve them.
These are the diagnostics that are run:
Setup Diagnostic – Files and registry are checked for errors occurring due to viruses or by hardware that is faulty or incorrectly configured. While running for about 15 minutes, the test may require the original installation source.
Disk Diagnostic – Hard disk is examined for errors logged by the Windows system and SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) feature of your hard disk (if provided by disk drive manufacturers) to notice potential hard disk failure.
Memory Diagnostic – Random Access Memory (RAM) is verified for integrity.
Update Diagnostic – Your computer is tested as to whether it has the latest updates installed to make Microsoft Office more stable. You can install updates from Microsoft Office Online.
Compatibility Diagnostic – Different versions of Microsoft Office are checked for conflicts, as two different versions of Office installed on your computer can cause instability.
Check for Known Solutions – The crash report is tested and checked against the database of Microsoft’s crash cases for available solutions.
To find out how to run diagnostics, read How to Fix Errors Using Microsoft Office Diagnostics.
