16 min read
Importing Data from Excel and Text Files
External Data → New Data Source: import from Excel or a text file into a brand-new table, checking headers and data types along the way.
Field Notes: Bringing Data In
Goal
Import data from an Excel spreadsheet into a new Access table.
Real-world data rarely starts out neatly inside Access — importing brings it in without retyping anything.
1
Choose the source
Do this
Go to External Data, then choose the source type, such as New Data Source, then From File, then Excel.
Verification
Check your work
You are correct if all of these are true:
- The same general process — External Data, then Text File — handles importing from CSV and other plain-text files.
More lessons in Microsoft Access · Next: Exporting Data to Excel, PDF, and Word · Previous: Responding to Events with VBA
