Open a Microsoft Access database

1. On the File menu, click Open .
   
   
2. Click a shortcut in the Places Bar, or, in the Look In box, click the drive or folder that contains the Microsoft Access database that you want.
   
   
3. In the folder list, double-click folders until you open the folder that contains the database.

   If you can't find the database that you want to open, click Tools and then click Find . In the Find dialog box, enter additional search criteria. For Help on an option, click the question mark and then click the option. Learn more about searching for files.

4. Do one of the following:
   • To open the database for shared access in a multiuser environment, so you and other users can read and write to the database, click Open.
     
     
   • To open the database with exclusive access, click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open Exclusive.
     
     
   • To open the database for read-only access so that you can view it but cannot edit it, click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open Read–Only.
     
     
   • To open the database for read-only access and also prevent other users from opening it, click the arrow next to the Open button, and then click Open Exclusive Read Only.

   For Help on an option in the dialog box, click the question mark , and then click the item.

Notes

• To view in the Open dialog box a list of shortcuts to databases that you have opened previously, click History on the Places Bar.
  
  
• To open one of the last several databases you had open, click the file name at the bottom of the File menu. Microsoft Access opens the database with the same option settings it had the last time you opened it. If the list of recently used files isn’t displayed, click Options on the Tools menu, click the General tab, and then select the Recently used file list check box.
  
  
• Microsoft Access can automatically create a shortcut in the Favorites folder, which you can use to open the database directly the next time. For more information, click . For information on creating a shortcut manually, click .
  
  
• You can directly open a data file in an external file format such as dBASE, Paradox, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Excel; you can also directly open any ODBC data source, such as Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft FoxPro. Microsoft Access automatically creates a new Access database in the same folder as the data file and adds links to each table in the external database. Learn more about importing and linking data.