Here are a few tips and tricks that I have found helpful when working with tables in Microsoft Access. Not all tips apply to all versions of Access.
Zoom
Click into the cell that you want to enter the data and press SHIFT F2
Shortcuts for date and time
Current date CTRL; Current time CTRL:
Right-align Text in a Table
Type * in the Format Property for that field.
Carry Data Forward From One Record to the Next
In the field that you want to copy the entry from the previous record in type CTRL’
Updating a Table with Information from Another Table
To update data in an existing field – eg a new telephone list:
1. Create an Update query and link the two tables with a one-to-one relationship
2. Add the field from your original table that needs to be updated
3. In the Update to row enter the following
[New Table Name].[New Field Name]
4. Run the query
To update a table with an entirely new field:
1. Create a Make Table query including the field from the table that includes the new data
3. Delete the original table and the table that held the new data
4. Rename the table that was created with the Make Table query so that is replaces the original table.
Sorting Multiple Columns in a Table
1. Re-order the fields that you want to sort on so that they are adjacent to each other and in the order you want to sort by (left to right).
2. Highlight the fields that you want to sort by
3. Use the sort buttons on the toolbar
OR
Use an advanced filter.
Hide a Table
The table’s name must start with Usys To view the table again: Tools | Options [View] System Objects
Copy a table between databases
Normal copy and paste – then have the option to paste structure and data, just structure or append data to an existing table.
Custom Number Formats
Four parts to the format, separated by semicolons.
1st – positive number format
2nd – negative number format
3rd – zero value format (information does not apply)
4th – null field format (information unknown, but may apply)
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