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The Visual Basic Editor
Alt+F11 opens a separate window entirely dedicated to writing code — a Project Explorer, a Code Window, and an Immediate Window for quick tests.
Field Notes: A Window of Its Own
Go to Database Tools, then Visual Basic — or press Alt+F11 — to open the Visual Basic Editor, a separate window dedicated entirely to writing and organizing code.
- Project Explorer, usually on the left, lists every form, report, and module in your database that can hold code. - Code Window, the large central area, is where you actually type VBA code, specific to whichever form, report, or module is selected. - Immediate Window — View, then Immediate Window, if not already visible — is a handy scratchpad for testing a single line of code or quickly checking a value, without running your whole database.
Press Alt+F11 again, or click Access's icon on the Windows taskbar, to switch back to the normal Access window at any time.
More lessons in Microsoft Access · Next: Writing a Simple VBA Procedure · Previous: What Is VBA, and When Do You Need It?