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Multi-User Access: Splitting a Database
Split a database into a shared Back-End (just the tables) and a Front-End per user (queries, forms, reports) so several people can work in it at once.
Field Notes: Two Files, One Shared Truth
By default, a single Access database file holds everything: your tables full of data, and your queries, forms, reports, macros, and any VBA code. For more than one person to use it comfortably at the same time, Access recommends splitting it into two separate files:
- The Back-End database holds only the tables — the actual data — stored in one shared location, such as a network drive or a shared folder, that everyone can reach. - The Front-End database holds the queries, forms, reports, and macros — the design and interface — with a copy given to each individual user, linked to the shared back-end's tables.
Goal
Split a database into a shared back-end and per-user front-end.
Each user then works from their own copy of the front-end file, while all of them ultimately read from and write to the exact same shared back-end tables, letting everyone see each other's changes.
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