The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Access versions 7.0, 97
- Microsoft Excel versions 7.0, 97
SUMMARY
Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.
This article describes a method to copy data from a Microsoft Excel
worksheet to a Microsoft Access table using a drag-and-drop operation.
MORE INFORMATION
When you drag information from Microsoft Excel to Microsoft Access, you
should be aware of the following data type conversion issues:
- Text in Microsoft Excel appears as Text in Microsoft Access
- Number in Microsoft Excel appears as Number in Microsoft Access
- Currency in Microsoft Excel appears as Currency in Microsoft Access
- Time in Microsoft Excel appears as Date/Time in Microsoft Access
- Date in Microsoft Excel appears as Text in Microsoft Access
To drag data from a Microsoft Excel worksheet to a Microsoft Access table,
follow these steps:
- Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and create a new table in
Datasheet view.
- Start Microsoft Excel and create a new worksheet. Type the number 1
in cell A1 and type the letter A in cell A2.
- In Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, use the right mouse button to click an
empty space on the task bar, and then select Tile Vertically (or
Horizontally) so that you can see both Microsoft Access and Microsoft
Excel on the desktop.
- Highlight the A1:A2 cells in the Microsoft Excel worksheet.
- While holding down the CTRL key, point the mouse pointer at the solid
line around the cells you selected until the mouse pointer becomes an
arrow with a plus (+) sign. Still holding down the CTRL key, drag the
selected cells to the Microsoft Access table, and then release the mouse
button.
NOTE: By holding down the CTRL key during the dragging operation, you
ensure that the data is copied from Microsoft Excel to Microsoft
Access. If you don't hold down the CTRL key, the data is cut from
Microsoft Excel. If you mistakenly cut the data, you can click Undo on
the Edit menu in Microsoft Excel to retrieve the data.
- When you release the mouse button to drop the data onto the table,
the title of the Microsoft Access table begins to flash. This
happens because the program is waiting for your response. Click anywhere
in the Microsoft Access table. Note that you receive a message that
states that you are about to paste two records into the table. Click
Yes to confirm that you want to paste the two records.
Note that the two records are pasted into Field1 of the Microsoft Access
table. To paste data into a table field other than Field1, select the
fields in the table where you want the data to be placed before you start
to drag the cells from Microsoft Excel. Be sure to consider that if you
select only one table field, only the first column in the selection from
Microsoft Excel will be pasted. If you try to repeat this and paste the
second column into Field 2, Microsoft Access appends the data, rather
than adds the data to the existing records. This is by design because
Microsoft Access is a database program, not a spreadsheet program.
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