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Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access

Overview

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

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Awards

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Pricing

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Microsoft Access

$139.99

On Premise
per PC

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Workflow Builder for Microsoft Access Demo

YouTube

Use a File Dialog in Microsoft Access

YouTube

Open Source Simple LIMS Software for Small Lab Demo

YouTube

Microsoft Access Electronic Signature Capture Database Template

YouTube

Microsoft Access Database Tutorial - User form Login Security Demo

YouTube

Microsoft Access Project Management Database Template

YouTube
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Product Details

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access Video

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access Competitors

Microsoft Access Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

Claris FileMaker are common alternatives for Microsoft Access.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Microsoft Access are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

(1-5 of 98)

Nice when is included

Rating: 8 out of 10
January 27, 2023
We needed a lightweight solution that could be easily integrated with our SQL server and could be installed on the user's computers
  • Easy to Use
  • Lightweight
  • Included with our office 365 licenses
Cons
  • Speed
  • Table size
  • Full text search
It fits very well when few transactions are required to be processed but for our solution we had multiple installations on user computers that were synced in batches with our sql server.It is not suitable when the transactionality is high or the access of several users is required simultaneously, nor does it support large tables without significantly affecting performance

Best in Business, Microsoft Access!

Rating: 9 out of 10
June 28, 2021
RV
Vetted Review
Verified User
Microsoft Access
2 years of experience
Having worked as a Data Analyst at a reputed retail company, Microsoft Access was one of the major tools that were used for database design, creating entity-relationship diagrams, creating mock layouts of the data schema, and writing queries to retrieve data. At the moment, Microsoft Access was being widely used across the organization. The main reason for using Microsoft Access was its usability and its usual Microsoft user interface that made it easier for nontechnical folks to write queries as well.
  • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
  • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
  • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
  • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
Cons
  • Need to backup very frequently, I have lost my work many times.
  • No version for Mac users, [I believe this is a] big limitation.
  • The ability to handle large database and multiple users.
  • UI is easy to use but [I feel it] can be improved a lot.
Having worked at startups, I can say Microsoft Access is most suited for their needs. Some of the reasons for that can be the ease and ability to create tables, design an entity-relationship diagram, define the relationship between different tables, feeding data into the tables, and retrieving data. All of this can be curated very easily into a process for small to medium-size enterprises. But a serious limitation can be observed where Access does not provide better features for large-scale companies. Another limitation is for companies where Mac is used as work computers.

A powerful database that lets you organize your data as you like

Rating: 9 out of 10
June 24, 2021
PW
Vetted Review
Verified User
Microsoft Access
19 years of experience
I work in the global programs department at a state university. I am not an expert, I don't know coding, but I do have extensive experience with Microsoft Access. Microsoft Access is being used in our department for databases to keep data about attendance at events, services performed, club dues and fees, the department bank account, and department orders. (I don't know if anyone else at the university uses it; most use MS Excel). I not only use Microsoft Access in my current position, I also used it extensively in my previous position (medical researcher) and built for the department an orders database, cell storage and retrieval database and a database for shipments of standardized adult bone marrow stem cells in liquid nitrogen to researchers all over the world. I am the only one in our current department who knows how to use Microsoft Access and thus I'm the only one who uses it, but I use it for the benefit of the department by quickly pulling up information that has to be tracked for reports needed for grants that we work under and other types of information. I designed and created all the elements used in the databases, tables, forms, reports, and macros. I've input all the data from the different events, clubs, services, and departmental accounts. I recently created the orders database so that the person in our department who does the orders can quickly enter all the order information that is input into our university order system into the database and then quickly find specific info about those orders. I find Microsoft Access helps our department function more efficiently.


  • Generates information about department events, services, orders, etc. quickly and in report form.
  • Easy to design forms and reports with drag and drop components. You don't need to know coding.
  • The ability to link tables and queries to get all the info needed for forms and reports
  • Forms and reports are easy to customize and edit.
  • Easily report your data grouped and sorted by any field
Cons
  • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
  • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
  • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
  • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
Microsoft Access is very well suited for collecting and organizing data in tables, and then using those tables to build relationships between tables using a common field, so you can build queries to find specific types of data over several related tables. Having a relational database is the best way to customize queries, forms, and reports. There are some built-in statistical or mathematical functions, which allow you to generate meaningful statistics to a certain degree. For generating reports and forms on specific related data, Microsoft Access is much better suited. It is less appropriate for statistical analysis, creating charts, and graphs. Microsoft Excel is much better for charts, graphs, and utilizing formulae and statistical functions to visually present data in graphic form.

Very powerful, but not easy to configure

Rating: 5 out of 10
May 19, 2021
We use [Microsoft] Access to manage our projects and sales contacts for our small book publishing company. It is the only source of data for the company, which only has a few employees. It tracks sales pipeline, payments, projects, royalties, and everything else. Reports, queries and forms are at the center of everything that happens in the company.
  • Fully customizable
  • Forms enable customized easy entry
  • Reports can solve pretty much any need
  • Mailmerge and emails can automate any task.
Cons
  • Very high learning curve
  • Hard to code complex reports without a ton of time and skill
  • No support resources for reporting help.
[Microsoft Access is] great that it's fully customizable, and doesn't require a monthly fee, but it is annoying that it's only usable on a local network. It is exceptionally difficult to code advanced reports that are exactly how we want them. I personally find Crystal Reports and most any other reporting system easier to make deeply complex reports.

Access is a great investment for your company

Rating: 9 out of 10
May 13, 2021
BA
Vetted Review
Verified User
Microsoft Access
3 years of experience
[Microsoft] Access is being used by various departments in the organization. I use it to combine databases with joins, such as combining data within 2 Excel files. It is very useful, because a lot of people at the company manually combine data, or use vlookup. Vlookup is good sometimes, but you only get the first occurrence of the match, whereas doing a join in Access lets you get all matches so you can decide what needs to be kept
  • Easy to use, and nearly limitless potential
  • Fast when joining data sets, whether you are doing inner, outer, full or self joins
  • Widely used software. Just about every company uses Access, or at least has it installed
Cons
  • When joining data, if there could be a way to add columns for matches, instead of adding rows
[Microsoft] Access is well suited for building data input forms. It is easy to create a form that anyone can use to input data in specific formats. The data then can be modified.
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