Bind an unbound text box or other control to a field or column

1. Open a form in Design view, a report in Design view, or a data access page in Design view.
   
   
2. Make sure that the control is selected and then click Properties on the toolbar to open its property sheet.
   
   
3. In the ControlSource property box, enter the name of the field that you want to bind the control to.

Note   If you bind a control to a field this way, or if you change the underlying field for a bound control, Microsoft Access doesn't set the control properties to the values that are set for the same properties in the underlying field. In forms and reports, ValidationRule, ValidationText, and DefaultValue property settings in the underlying field will be applied, however, because these properties are enforced for the field, not just the control. If you create a bound control by dragging fields from the field list to a form or report, the bound control inherits certain properties from the field. For more information about which properties are inherited and how this inheritance works in forms and reports, click .