From the course: Access Basics for Excel Users

A tour of Access - Microsoft Access Tutorial

From the course: Access Basics for Excel Users

Start my 1-month free trial

A tour of Access

“

- [Instructor] Let's take a quick tour of Access. Access is a relational database application that comes included with many Microsoft Office subscriptions. Now, a relational database is essentially a method of linking data from different places using a common identifier that exists in both of those places. Now, make sure that you have Access open. What you'll notice at the top of the screen here is we have a few options. We have a number of predefined templates. Now, these usually come with data tables, forms, and reports that have already been prepared for a variety of different subject matter. However, to get the most out of this course, let's go ahead and create a new blank database simply by left-clicking on Blank database. Now, when the dialog box appears, prompting us to save the database, let's go ahead and click on the folder icon. And then how about we just go and navigate to the desktop and give the file a name, MyFirstDB. Then go ahead and click on OK. And then click on Create. Now, whilst we've just saved the file to the desktop, which I think is a really good place to start working with the database, I do strongly suggest that you eventually move it to a shared folder to allow collaboration with other users later on. Now, what you're looking at here is the Access navigation screen. At the very top of the screen, we have menus. And then below the menus, we have ribbons. And this allows us to invoke a number of different Access features that we'll explore a little bit more later on. Then below the ribbons, we have Access Objects. Now, we may just want to drag this a little bit further to the right. That way we can see the full name of the menu. The Access Objects include things like tables and reports. Now, at the moment, it's looking a little bit bare because we've only just created a blank database. And as a default, you can see that Access has created a blank table. Now, if you really like, you can start playing around with this table by adding columns and inputting data and the like, but we don't need to do that just yet. Just like that, you have created your very first Access database.

Contents