Automatically Loading a Form in Microsoft Access

Here’s another quick tip for Microsoft Office – this time for Microsoft Access for you budding database experts.

If you lock down your database and prevent users from navigating its objects then by default nothing will show up when the database is loaded. Similarly, if your users are using the Microsoft Access Runtime (a cutdown version of Access which will allow users to use but not design databases) they will be in the same boat.

Obviously, the preferred solution is to automatically load an object like a form in order for users to start interacting with the database. Good thing that it is fairly simple.

Access 2003 and earlier

1. Open the Access database,
2. Click on Tools,
3. Click on Startup,
4. Under Display Form select the form you wish to load upon opening the database,
5. Click OK.

Access 2007 and later

1. Open the Access database,
2. Click on the Office Button (Office 2007) or the File tab (Office 2010/2013),
3. Click on Current Database,
4. Next to Display Form select the form you wish to load upon opening the database,
5. Click OK.

You can test that the selected form loads automatically by closing and reopening it.