18 min read
Creating, Opening, and Saving a Database
Blank database, templates, opening an existing file, and Access's biggest habit surprise: it saves your data automatically, record by record.
You will learn: what Backstage is. how to create a blank .accdb file. You will do: create RiversideLibrary.accdb on your PC.
What Is Backstage?
Click the File tab. Access shows Backstage — a full-page menu, not a row of buttons.
From Backstage you New, Open, Save, Print, and Compact & Repair.
New
Choose Blank database on the right. Type Library as the file name. Click the folder icon to pick DocumentsLibrary. Then click Create. Access writes Library.accdb.
Blank database panel (right side)
File name: Library · Folder: DocumentsLibrary · Button: Create
Create a Blank Database
Goal
Create a new blank database file.
The library needs one file to hold all tables.
Open Backstage
Where
Do this
New
Choose Blank database on the right. Type Library as the file name. Click the folder icon to pick DocumentsLibrary. Then click Create. Access writes Library.accdb.
Blank database panel (right side)
File name: Library · Folder: DocumentsLibrary · Button: Create
Verification
Check your work
You are correct if all of these are true:
- Access creates RiversideLibrary.accdb and opens a default table.
If something looks wrong
Fix
Expected result: The title bar shows RiversideLibrary : Database (Access). The Navigation Pane may show Table1 — delete it later when you build Members.
Practice
Field Notes: Starting and Managing a Database File
Goal
Create a brand-new, blank Access database.
A blank database opens a fresh, empty Table1 ready for you to define your own fields — the starting point for almost every project in this course.
Choose Blank database
Do this
Verification
Check your work
You are correct if all of these are true:
- Access creates the new database file and opens a fresh, empty table named Table1 in Datasheet View, ready to define fields on.
Clicking a template thumbnail on the Start screen instead gives you a complete, ready-made database — tables, forms, and reports already built for a common purpose, such as tracking contacts or assets. A later lesson in this course looks at templates in more depth.
To reopen a database you already made, go to File, then Open, then browse to the file — or simply double-click an Access database file (it usually ends in .accdb) anywhere on your computer.
Saving Happens Automatically, Object by Object
This is the habit that surprises almost everyone arriving from Word or Excel. Access has no single "Save" button for the whole database, and no AutoSave switch to flip, because each record you type is written to disk the instant you move to a different record — closer to a notebook than a document. What you *do* still need to save deliberately is an object's design: after adding a field to a table in Design View, press Ctrl+S, or simply try to close that object's tab and click Yes when Access asks whether to save your design changes.
File Formats Worth Knowing
- Access Database (.accdb) — the modern standard. Use this for almost everything. - Access 2002–2003 Database (.mdb) — an older format, only needed for compatibility with very old software. - Access Database Executable (.accde) — a locked copy that hides the underlying design and VBA code, used when handing a finished database to other people, covered later in this course.
More lessons in Microsoft Access · Next: Understanding Tables, Fields, and Records · Previous: A Guided Tour of the Screen