What is Microsoft Access? A Quick Start Tutorial

Today's society runs on data, so there is a great deal of focus on various database tools. In any case, if you have the proper tools, you have the most effective way to deal with the massive amount of data we currently possess and make things easier to manage.

In order to do this, we'll look at Microsoft Access. This tutorial talks about important things about Microsoft Access, such as what it is, how it is different from Excel, the advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft Access, and how it is used.

Microsoft access what is?

The Microsoft 365 office suite comes with Microsoft Access, a well-known database management system created by Microsoft. Software development tools, a graphical user interface, and Microsoft's relational Jet Database Engine are all included in Microsoft Access (GUI). It came out in November 1992, so it has been around for a long time. In the fast-paced world of IT, where things change quickly and often, the best word to describe a 30-year-old program is "venerable."

Microsoft Access was also the first database program for Windows that was sold to a large number of people.

With Microsoft Access, business and enterprise users can easily manage data and analyze a lot of information. The program lets you create forms that are easy to use by combining database and programming features.

Microsoft Access lets you store, change, and look at data like Microsoft Excel. But, as we're about to see, Access has much more to offer.

How Microsoft Access and Excel are different

Before we discuss how Microsoft Access differs from Microsoft Excel, let's go over what Excel is. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application that's primarily used for small-scale personal projects and quick calculations.

Excel users usually work simultaneously with between a few dozen and a couple of hundred data cells. So, Excel is a good tool for graphing and charting data points and calculations. However, Excel users manually enter data into their spreadsheets, whereas Access databases utilize pre-made queries and forms.

How use Microsoft Access?

Here are some of the most-used parts of Microsoft Access:

Data from Excel or other databases can be brought in.
Making forms for entering or viewing data
The creation and execution of data retrieval queries
Making reports that can be printed or saved as a PDF
letting users talk to Access through SQL

The Microsoft Access Components

There are the following parts to Microsoft Access:

Tables: Access keeps its information in tables, which are made up of rows and columns. Users can put all of a project's information into one database. A "flat" database is what this one is. More to come on databases.

Relational databases: Users can put all of a project's data in one database, but it's usually easier to make separate tables for each part of the project. A relational database allows each table to be linked and related to the others.

Forms: Users can add information to a database without using a spreadsheet when they use forms.

Macros: Macros are small pieces of code that are made up of commands and processes. They save a lot of time.

Modules: Users of Visual Basic Applications can write procedures, also known as functions, in the form of modules.

Queries: Queries are used to find information in databases. This is a helpful tool, given that many Access databases are vast.

Reports: Reports make it easier to sort, label, summarize, and group data so that it can be easily shared or printed.

How Microsoft Access Can Be Used

Over the past 30 years, Microsoft Access has shown over and over again how flexible it is. Microsoft Access can:

Store information in tables that can be changed or changed to fit the user's needs.
Take care of bills and money
Compare data or look for connections between different sets of data
Make websites with databases
Create programs that can be used by small businesses, departments within a larger company, or individuals

Microsoft Access Database

There are two different kinds of databases in Microsoft Access:

First, flat file databases store information in plain text and can't use more than one table.
Second, relational databases store information in different forms that are connected. Relational databases, for example, can have more than one table, which organizes the text into columns and rows.

The Microsoft Access database also uses the following types of data:

Attachment: Store data such as digital images
Auto Number: When a new record is made, Access or the user gives it a number.
Calculated: Makes an expression using information from one or more fields.
Currency: Keeps track of currency values and numbers with one to four decimal places.
Date/Time: Keeps track of dates and times for years between 100 and 9999.
Hyperlink: Holds a number and text combination used as a link address.
Long Text: Usually used for long alphanumeric or text data (up to 63,999 characters).
Numbers: Data made up of numbers that are used to store math calculations
OLE Objects: This information includes audio, video, and other files. Binary Large Objects
Short Text: Stores text and numbers that are not used in calculations.
Yes/No: Only keeps track of the values of Yes or No.

What Microsoft Access Can Do for You

Microsoft Access has many benefits, such as the fact that users can have a fully functional, relational database management system up and running in minutes.

It's easy to bring in data from many different places.
It's easy to change to fit your needs or those of your business.
The website Microsoft Access works well with many programming languages that run on Windows.
It is a strong and versatile tool that can handle any problematic office or industrial database task.
Users of MS-Access can link to data in its current location and use it to view, query, update, and report on the data. It is simple to install and comprehend.
Users can make tables, forms, queries, reports, and connections using Macros.
In Microsoft Access, macros are simple pieces of code that help users add features to their database.
It is easier to use because it has a graphical user interface (GUI).
Microsoft Access online can do heterogeneous joins between different data sets stored on various platforms.

What Microsoft Access Can't Do

No app is perfect; that's a given. Microsoft Access is just like any other product because it has some problems. Among its issues are:

If too many user try to use the same database simultaneously, it could slow things down and make them less efficient. There is a limit to how many user can work on the same database simultaneously.
The Microsoft Access database helps small and medium-sized businesses more than it helps large companies.
When working with sensitive data, better database systems can be used.
Other DBMS systems, like MS SQL Server or Oracle, are more reliable than Microsoft Access.
Since the database stores all of its information in one file, reports, queries, and forms can take longer.
Even though the technical limit is 255 users simultaneously, the real-world limit is between 10 and 80, depending on the type of application the organization is running at the time.
Microsoft Access is much more challenging to learn and train on than other Microsoft programs.

Finishing up

There is only one fix that works for some. What works for one business will only work for another because every person and every organization has unique needs. However, Microsoft Access is a fantastic database solution for individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, and independently operating divisions within larger organizations. It's a significant improvement over Excel. Check it out and see if Access will work for your needs.