Create an option group without a wizard

1. Open a form in Design view, a report in Design view, or a data access page in Design view.
   
   
2. Click the Control Wizards tool in the toolbox if it's pressed in. This turns off the wizard.
   
   
3. In the toolbox, click the Option Group tool .
   
   
4. Do one of the following:
   • If you want to create an unbound option group, click where you want to place the group frame.
     
     
   • If you want to create a bound option group, click Field List on the toolbar to display the field list, and then drag the appropriate field or column from the field list to the form, report, or data access page. Fields and columns are placed in the option group as text boxes. In a form or report, if the field list button or command isn't available, you need to bind the form or report to a record source. In a data access page, if the field list is empty, you must connect the page to a database.

   Note   You must drag the field or column from the field list. If you click the field in the field list and then click the form, report, or data access page, the control won't be bound.

5. In the form or report toolbox, click the Check Box , Option Button , or the Toggle Button tool . In the data access page toolbox, click the Option Button .Then click inside the group frame where you want the upper-left corner of the check box, option button, or toggle button to appear. When the user rests the pointer over the frame in a form or report, Microsoft Access highlights the option group to indicate that controls placed within it become part of the option group.

   When Access creates the first control inside an option group on a form or report, it sets the control's OptionValue property to 1. On a data access page, you must set the Value property of each option button to a number or any text that’s meaningful for the field the group frame is bound to.

6. Repeat step 5 for each control you add to the option group. On a form or report, Access sets the OptionValue property of the second option to 2, the third to 3, and so on.

Notes

• For information on aligning the controls in the group frame to each other in forms and reports, click . For information on aligning the controls in a group frame to each other in data access pages click .
  
  
• For information on spacing controls evenly in forms and reports, click .
  
  
• To facilitate data entry, you can make the most commonly chosen option the default.

  How?
  
  

• If you create a check box, option button, or toggle button outside an option group, and you want to add that control to an option group, you must cut and paste the control into the option group (select the option group frame before you paste). When you cut and paste, Microsoft Access sets the OptionValue property for the control on a form or report to -1 so that you must reset the property to the value you want. If you drag an existing control into a group frame, the control doesn't become part of the option group.