Its purpose is to fill the gap between using an Excel spreadsheet and building an elaborate SQL Server driven application. Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals!

Whipping together an Access database and storing it in there. ), How to Organize the Slack Sidebar for Best Results, How to Check Your Wi-Fi Network for Suspicious Devices, Microsoft Edge Canary Receives a Webpage Capture Tool, How to Track a Cell Phone's Location Using Just the Phone Number, Smartta SliderMini 2 Review: Portable, Powerful, Mini Camera Slider, Windows 10 Will Soon Prod You to Use Microsoft Edge, The 10 Best Study Planning Apps for All Students, Everything We Know About the New Google Chromecast, How to Use Facebook's Messenger Rooms: A Beginner's Guide, How to Move Mac Files to Android Without Android File Transfer, LG Wing Receives Launch Date and Price With Verizon, 12 Tips to Successfully Selling Your Comic Book Collection, You Can Already Buy Google's Unannounced Chromecast at Some Stores.

Keen-eyed readers will note the lack of an Excel export tab.

The above image shows Microsoft Access (top) and Excel (bottom) for comparison.

Over the decades, Microsoft Access evolved with a large number of enhancements, database formats and discontinued features. It can be quite time consuming and costly to switch database systems at a later date, so starting with the right solution is usually better. Gavin is a Senior Writer for MUO. Medium to large organisations can have some pretty large requirements when it comes to storing data. Many times it’s a decision between; If Access wasn’t an option, it would be back to the spreadsheet. Access includes features that make it easy for non-technical users to perform tasks (such as its forms, its wizards, it’s macros, etc). The above table should provide you with an outline to the key comparisons between using Microsoft Access or Excel for your data requirements.

Maintaining a massive Excel spreadsheet with thousands, if not tens of thousands of entries becomes increasingly difficult and as your data evolves the need to update your formulas, summary ranges and macros may lead to mistakes appearing in your data. In many cases the project will either stay small or disappear altogether. Both data tabs provide users with an expanded cross-functionality that allows you the best of both worlds: supreme mathematical calculations, formatting and tables, along with excellent data management, analysis and reportage. Access is not intended to be an enterprise level solution.

Its purpose is to fill the gap between using an Excel spreadsheet and building an elaborate SQL Server driven application. Microsoft Access is a slightly different beast to Excel. Querying and filtering can take place regardless of your mode of storage with Microsoft Access providing powerful data analysis solutions – but no pivot table! However, if an organisation already has the skills and equipment, it’s usually better to use SQL Server whenever possible, even if you don’t anticipate a lot of growth. Microsoft Access debuted in 1992 and recently celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

SQL Server has much better scalability than Access. And your database is just that – a digital store of information. Ian on June 5, 2016 June 10, 2016. On the other hand, SQL Sever includes advanced features that aren’t available in Access (such as stored procedures, more granular security features, etc).