INTRODUCTION
Microsoft Access is a Database Management System (DBMS) from Microsoft. It is a member of the Microsoft Office Suite of applications, included in the professional and higher editions. Also, it is sold separately.
This article will help those who are new to Microsoft Access, to create a new database and add their first table to it.
Prerequisites
Microsoft Access 2016. (Steps should be similar for lower versions also).
How To
Open MS Access.
The Access window opens.
Click on "Blank database".
It then asks you to select file name and location for the file. Feed the details and click on "Create".
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Remember, the new MS Access file format is *.accdb while the old one was *.mdb.
A new window will open with Table1.
Close this View. Right click on table1 tab and click on Close.
Now, to create our first table, go to "Create" menu and click on "Table Design".
The "Table Designer" tab gets opened.
- The first column is "Field Name" for defining the new table, the second one is the "Data Type", and the third one is Description (optional).
All available data types are the following.
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- AutoNumber is an auto incremental number.
I've provided an example of a User data table.
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- In the "General" tab, you can edit additional settings for a column, such as length etc.
Right click on id column and you can set it as Primary Key.
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Now, right click on Table1 and click "Save".
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A "Save As" dialog box will open.
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Type in the required name and click OK. The created table will now show in "All Access Objects" panel.
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Now, don't forget to set password for your database, otherwise anyone will be able to open your database file. Click on "File" menu and click "Encrypt with password".
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Enter the required password in the dialog box and click OK.
Conclusion
You can now create your own MS Access databases and tables. MS Access has a lot of functionality to explore. I've attached the sample MS Access DB for reference.
NOTE
To use
MS Access, you need to have a valid licensed copy of it.