What data type should I use for a field in my table?

Decide what kind of data type to use for a field based on these considerations:

• What kind of values do you want to allow in the field? For example, you can't store text in a field with a Number data type.
  
  
• How much storage space do you want to use for values in the field?
  
  
• What types of operations do you want to perform on the values in the field? For example, Microsoft Access can sum values in Number or Currency fields, but not values in Text or OLE Object fields.
  
  
• Do you want to sort or index a field? OLE Object fields can't be sorted or indexed.
  
  
• Do you want to use a field to group records in queries or reports? OLE Object fields can't be used to group records.
  
  
• How do you want to sort values in a field? In a Text field, numbers sort as strings of characters (1, 10, 100, 2, 20, 200, and so on), not as numeric values. Use a Number or Currency field to sort numbers as numeric values. Also, many date formats will not sort properly if entered in a Text field. Use a Date/Time field to ensure proper sorting.
  
  
• View a summary of field data types available in Microsoft Access.