Disable a text box or other control in Form view or make data in a control read-only

1. Open a form in Design view or a report in Design view.
   
   
2. Make sure that the control is selected, and then click Properties on the toolbar to open its property sheet.
   
   
3. Do one or both of the following:
   • If you want to disable the control completely so that it's dimmed and can't receive the focus, set the Enabled property to No.
     
     
   • If you want to make data in the control readable, but not allow users to change the data, set the Locked property to Yes. If you set the Enabled property to No and the Locked property to Yes, then the control won't appear dimmed, but it won't be able to receive the focus.

Notes

• You can use the Enabled property together with the AfterUpdate property to disable a control until a user enters text or makes a selection in another control. For example, you might want to disable a command button until data has been entered in a text box. You can use the AfterUpdate property of the text box to call an event procedure or a macro to enable the command button.
  
  
• For more information on the Enabled and Locked properties and how you can use them together, click .
  
  
• If you just want to keep a control off the tab order, but you want to make it possible to select that control, set the TabStop property for that control to No.