Sort or limit column headings displayed in a crosstab query

In column headings containing, for example, the months of the year, you can display the months chronologically rather than alphabetically, and you can display only the columns for January through June.

1. Design your crosstab query either with or without the help of a wizard.
   
   
2. Display the query in Design view.
   
   
3. Click the background of query Design view, outside the design grid and the field lists.
   
   
4. On the toolbar, click Properties to display the query's property sheet.
   
   
5. In the ColumnHeadings property box, enter the column headings you want to display, in the order in which you want to display them. Between the column headings, type a comma or the list separator for your country. (To find the list separator for your country, double-click Regional Settings in the Windows Control Panel.)

   The column headings you enter must exactly match the column headings in the query datasheet. For example, if a column heading in the datasheet is "USA," you must enter a column heading of "USA" — not "US." (After you press ENTER or move the pointer to a different location, Microsoft Access places quotation marks around each heading.)

6. To view the query's results, click View on the toolbar.

Notes  

• If you run a crosstab query often, or if you use it as the basis for a form, report, or data access page, you can speed up the query by using the preceding procedure to specify fixed column headings.
  
  
• If you frequently use the same column headings in different queries, consider creating a table with one Text field to store the column headings. Then open the table and copy the headings into the ColumnHeadings property box as needed.