Ms Access Guru

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Access Videos

List of free video tutorials that teach you about Microsoft Access and related applications like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint when their features are needed. Lately, there are many about drawing ... I'm having way too much fun with Access! Another big focus is leveraging Word.

LearnAccessByCrystal YouTube channel
  • Click "cc" below the video to read the words as they are spoken.
  • Read the video description for download and other referenced links.
  • Although quite a few of these are for versions of Access older than what you may be using, they have value because the basics don't change. They teach you how, and explain the logic. Thanks for watching.
Go to Current Donate 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 My Presentations
 Posted   Video Title        Length   Notes 
Playlist: Learn Access By Crystal This is a sequential list of videos for learning Access.
2023             Goto Top
2023-08-23 SQL Spacer VBA and Access Add-in 6:58 Quickly make SQL Statements easier to understand by inserting spaces and line breaks where it makes sense. Untangle logic, inspect something that was constructed in VBA and doesn't work quite right, create documentation, and more. Run the VBA code and get the result to put somewhere yourself, or open the Access database with a convenient form and also set up to be an Add-in if you want it to be available anytime you're in Access.
2023-07-17 How To Draw Birthday Balloons in Access 21:26 It's Steve's birthday! He's in a group of Access developers that I meet with. Shared my screen and opened the Access database that you can download. PartyWords were modified for Steve to add terms like Access and Chocolate. Then Access made a fun birthday card with ballons for him, a few times. Look at the VBA code and see how it works.
Download ACCDB: Draw Birthday Balloons in Access
2023-05-04 Report Draw Reference for Access 5:03 Short video about the web page with my notes as I was learning about drawing on Access reports. It has syntax, values, and explanations. I hope it will be a good reference for you too.
Web page: Report Draw Reference and VBA Syntax
2023-02-20 Draw the Moon on Access Reports 0:30 Draw the moon on Access reports using VBA in any phase, any position, any color, any size.
2023-01-17 Draw a Rainbow on Access Reports 10:14 Liven up your Access reports with rainbows! Learn how it's done or simply how to call the Draw_Rainbow procedure.
2023-01-05 Read Word Selection using Access 8:32 Use Access to read information from the Word selection. Show the text that's selected on an Access form. If a field is found, display it. If the field is also a document property (DOCPROPERTY), show the property name. If there's a format specified, show it.
2022             Goto Top
2022-12-25 Draw Christmas Tree and Star on Access Report 7:36 ♫ on the first day of Christmas, Access gave to me a star on a Christmas Tree ♫
Web page, VBA and ACCDB to: Draw a Christmas Tree and Star
2022-09-06 Word Document Properties and Fields 14:05 Properties are a great way to substitute data in your Word document. When the value of a document property is changed, everywhere it is referenced also changes. No find and replace needed, just update the document!
Web page: Word Built-in and Custom Document Properties, and VBA
2022-07-26 Sort Access form by any column of any combo box. 19:21 See the magic of prefacing a control name with "Lookup_"
Web page with Download database and VBA Code to sort a form by combo columns.
2022-06-29 Big Checkbox in Access with Conditional Formatting 2:18 See how a textbox can be used to look and behave like a checkbox. Make the checkbox whatever size you want, change its color, and set conditional formatting. Click on it to change its value and appearance.
2022-02-15 fix Northwind 2. Structure Contacts 21:05 Examine how contact information is being stored in the Northwind template and what you can do to make it better.
2021             Goto Top
2021-08-20 Document Access Tables to Excel 10:16 Document your Access database tables to Excel! Make a list of all the tables, a data dictionary, and more.
Document_Tables2Excel VBA Code
2021-07-03 Word - Save your Table as a Template 9:21 I'm writing a book about Microsoft Access, and Word is helping me. I'll show you how to save a template table so you can make a new table that has the format of a table that you like.
2021-06-13 fix Northwind 1. Relationships Diagram 22:05 What's wrong with Northwind? Let's fix it! This is part 1 -- we're starting with the relationships diagram. Northwind Traders is a fictitious company created by Microsoft to showcase features in Microsoft Access. It's great for ideas, but is just a starting point. Let's find out what to do to make this a serious application for business use.
2020             Goto Top
2020-11-01 Hierarchical Relationships in Access 7:24 Hierarchical relationships are common in real data. Create a simple hierarchical structure in an Access database by putting a foreign key in the same table as the primary key. We'll make 2 queries to show the hierarchy by using one table multiple times, one from bottom-up, and one from top-down. SQL, Relationships, modify RowSource of a combo box to show more columns.
2020-09-24 Make Records in a Cross-Reference Table with VBA 7:24 Shows how to use code I posted to normalize data automatically! You just need to tell it a few things, and this free tool can save you a lot of time. Everything is open and the code is discussed in the video.
Cross-Reference VBA Code
2020-09-16 Add New Data with NotInList VBA for Combo box 7:24 Add to a combo box list using the NotInList event by adding a record to the table for its RowSource. Pass the table name, field name, new data, and response to a general function that constructs and runs an SQL statement.
NotInList VBA Code
2020-07-04 Draw American Flag using VBA 8:34 Draw a picture of an American flag on an Access report, any size, any position, using VBA Line and Print methods.
American Flag VBA Code
2020-06-29 Merge Data from Access into a Microsoft Word Letter 5:01 How to how to merge data from Access into a letter you write with Microsoft Word, from the Word side
2020-04-22 Get Northwind Database for Microsoft Access (cc) 5:01 How to get the popular Northwind Database template for Microsoft Access!
2020-03-29 Import/Export QAT 12:52 The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) can help you work faster and be more productive. Learn how to customize it. Save time by exporting and importing the QAT definitions.
2020-02-28 RowSourceType Callback Function 12:33 The RowSourceType property of a combo box or list box determines how Microsoft Access will get the data to show for the list of choices. Did you know that, instead of picking Table/Query, Value List, or Field List, you can actually put a custom callback function name here?!? I'll show you how to do that :)
2019             Goto Top
2019-10-29 Unit Circle 27:06 Math. Learning the Unit circle helps you master Trigonometry and calculate where points are. What is Sine, Cosine, and Tangent for different angles? and how are they calculated? How 360° and other angles relate to pi radians. Do you want to know how tall a tree is? There is an easy way to figure it out. I created this video tutorial to show how the math worked for my analog clock in Access. Then I saw a bigger purpose, for anyone. To understand a circle, we use the Pythagorean Theorem and right triangles. The graphics were done with an Access report using the Circle, Line, and Print methods.
Teachers and developers ... for more information and clickable index, visit msaccessgurus.com/Teach/UnitCircle.htm
2019-05-17 Shuffle Data Imported from Excel 24:45 After data is imported from Excel, shuffle it into the different tables where it needs to go. Append customers from product order information and create an expression for a calculated field. Many people start data in Excel and then fail to properly structure it when it goes into Access. Hopefully this tutorial will get you on the right path!
2019-04-23 How to Make and Install an Access Add-In 11:51 An add-in lets you run code in any database without having to import modules, so they can save time and make your code more accessible. An add-in can have a form pops up in another database, just like it was really there. Hopefully this tutorial will take the big mysery out of add-ins, and maybe you'll make some cool ones! ... or just use the add-ins here that are Free and not protected so you can learn since they are just ACCDBs that have been renamed.
Now add-ins seem easy, but they weren't when I first tried! like most everything. If there are add-ins you aren't using, you can uninstall them. If you leave add-in files in the Menu Add-ins folder, they are easy to put back again.
2019-03-27 Import Excel Spreadsheet into Access 14:15 Use the import wizard in Microsoft Access to import an Excel spreadsheet. Change data type. Choose table name. Modify table design. Create an update query.
Read the April 2019 Access article in the Technology section of SFmagazine for related information.
2018             Goto Top
2018-09-25 Highlight Current Record 8:53 How to Highlight Current Record in an Access continuous or datasheet form that shows muliple records.
Download Highlight Current Record with Conditional Formatting and VBA. Read article.
2018-05-12 Analog Clock with Moving Hands + Sounds in Access 4:28 Analog Clock in Access! Optionally, you can also play a sound as each second ticks by.
download Clock.
2018-04-16 Wrapper Function that Calls Excel for Query in Access 13:25 Wrapper Function to call Excel so you can get results in a query.
Calculate payments for loan offer information stored in a table. In a query, you can define a column with a calculated field that calls a wrapper function to use Excel's PMT function. The values for fields and calculated fields are passed. Display columns in Color using Format. Use VBA to do the magic, and understand each statement in the code as it is explained.
2018-04-07 Use Excel's PMT function in Access! 15:47 Use Excel worksheet functions in an Access form.
What Excel has, Access can use. See a form in Access that collects data and then uses Excel's PMT function. Just click the "Calculate" button, and voila! As a user, you have no idea that Access just went out to Excel to do a calculation. VBA can reference Excel, and use what it has. Late-binding. Form Unload. Object variables. With... End With. Validate data so if required information is missing, the user gets a message, is then placed where data needs to be filled, and code processing stops.
download Excel PMT Calculator in Access. Read article.
2018-02-20 Create custom functions in Access using VBA 10:45 Write a custom function in VBA ... user-defined function, or UDF.
Use your new function in a query. If you can create a complex expression, then you also have the logic to write VBA too -- give it a try! Use the Debug, or Immediate, Window to explore dates ... and 'convert' them to numbers (they already are -- but see dates displayed as a number too). Read article.
2017             Goto Top
2017-12-01 Synchronize List Box in Access using SQL and VBA 10:35 Modify SQL with VBA.
If you have never written code or looked at an SQL statement before, no problem! ... give it a try. Many doors open to cool things.
Learn how to synchronize a list box (or combo box, since they are similar) to dynamic data on a form ... such as showing list of orders for the active customer. Read article1. Read article2
2017-11-09 Subform to show Calculations in Microsoft Access 10:32 Use a subform to show calculations.
In depth look at a subform control that shows the sum of orders and payments for a customer. Explore properties and see how to aggregate, get statistics, and synchronize results for your data. Calculations are in an underlying query that feeds the Record Source of the subform, which is linked to the mainform using Link Master Fields and Link Child Fields. Additional properties: Source Object, Name, Width, Height, Top, Left, Border Color, Border Style, Special Effect, Visible, Locked, and Enabled. Read article.
2017-10-15 Mainform + Subforms for Payments 8:38 Mainform + Subforms.
Mainform collects payment information for customer purchases. See how subforms and listboxes are used to dynamically show calculated data based on information displayed on the main form. Enter key behavior setting in the Access Options. Anchoring. Read article.
2017-09-17 What is a Combo Box? Microsoft Access 11:25 Combo boxes are a fantastic way to show meaningful information
whilst actually storing something that may be cryptic to the human eye. A combo box is a combination of a list box and a text box. Learn how to change a textbox control into a combo box.
Properties: Name, Row Source, Column Count, Column Widths, List Width, Column Heads, Status Bar Text. Read article.
2017-07-27 How to Create Calendar Reports from Access Queries ... as shareable Web Pages - easy! 8:57 Do you have data with dates?
See how easy it is to show your data on a calendar with a free tool you can download. Use a query to line up your data, and then presto! Calendar! Read article.
2017-07-09 Access Query - Triangles, Circles, Compare Previous Stock Price 11:19
2017-06-17 Bar Graphs in Access Query using Unicode 6:53
2016             Goto Top
2016-10-19 Access -- Polish Reports 25:01
2016-09-08 Grouped Report using Wizard in Access then Modify 16:53
2015             Goto Top
2015-06-09 How To Migrate Data from Desktop to Access App 32:35
2015-01-28 How To Make Video Captions, Free Microsoft Access Tool 6:59
2014             Goto Top
2014-12-09 Learn Access -6- Create a Continuous (Multiple Items) Form in Microsoft Access 28:02 Lesson 6. Create a Continuous form, or Multiple Items form, to display many records at a time. Modify, add, name, select, align, resize, and best-fit controls. Switch between Form and Design Views. Property Sheet. Change textbox to combo box, hide first column, set the RowSource using query designer. Field descriptions are Status Bar Text. Shift-F2 for Zoom box. Import QAT. Write VBA. Tracking fields with the date/time record added and edited.
download Contact Template
QAT customization files: 2010 .
2018             Goto Top

music by April Kelly, "Blow Me Away", songs, new
2014-10-21 Projects, Tasks, and Time in contact Template for Microsoft Access 03:25
2014-10-12 Access Contact Template
Contact Management System, CMS
30:43 Shows free Contact Template download for Access with tables for names, addresses, phones, emails, websites, lists, notes, attachments, plus about 80 tables you can customize for your business and personal needs. Also has several forms, reports, and a report menu that processes criteria. Uses VBA. The contact template is a split application, with front-end and back-end, and a folder below for referenced files. It is meant for teaching and is also a useful application you can customize.
download Contact Template
music by Ken Gaines, "Pride of the Morning", "Razzmatazz"
2014-09-21 Tool: ListFiles tool using Lawyer example 7:54
2014-08-14 How To Make a Graph with Microsoft Access 7:44
2014-08-12 Tool and Code: Manipulate Graphs in Microsoft Access using VBA 22:05
2014-07-31 Learn Access -5- Modify Data Structure 4:11 music by Melanie Phippard, "Malibu Barbie"
2014-06-12 Tool: Analyzer for Microsoft Access 5:50 music by Mark Davis, "Beacons"
2014-05-29 Tool: Document Query Calculated Fields 4:09 music by JD Live, Slade
2014-02-25 Tool: Channel Tracker 2:19 Database to keep track of YouTube video information (#Views, Likes, Dislikes). Because page format keeps changing, the scrape feature no longer works in the download mentioned, but you can see how it was done.
2013             Goto Top
2014-01-30 Office App Store: JavaScript API Tutorial for Office using Excel 2013 15:16 music by Jubal Lee Young, "Greed Is The Creed" w/band, solo
2013-07-07 Learn Access -4- Tables and Relationships 36:05 music by JD Live, Colors of the Lonely
2013-01-01 Access: Fill Missing Value, Tracking field 2:29
2013-01-01 Access: Filter By Selection 1:03
2012             Goto Top
2012-12-18 Access Defaults ... take a tour ... 16:21
2012-12-18 Access - Requery a Query Shortcut 1:21
2012-12-16 PowerPoint: Change Slide Number 0:58
2012-12-16 PowerPoint: Apply Theme from Another Presentation - Document Screenshots 1:05
2012-12-16 Get Path and Filename for Access, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint 2:58
2012-12-16 Word: Figure Captions, Azure Management Portal, Table of Figures 3:20
2012-12-16 Access QAT (Quick Access Toolbar): Alignment Icons 2:57 Customize the QAT and show it below the ribbon. To make it really fast to line up controls when designing forms and reports, add icons to align them. Other useful commands are ordering (bring to front, send to back), grouping and ungrouping, changing views, ... and the list goes on.
2012-12-15 Word: Create Table from Text, Table of Tables 3:50
2012-09-22 Add Save As Icon to QAT
captions in English, Français, Dutch, and Deutsch
2:15 QAT. Add SaveAs to the Quick Access Toolbar to make saving with a new name faster and more efficient. For instance, modify a query and quickly save it with a new name. Try this in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint too!
2012-09-14 How to Insert Foreign and Special Characters -- Deutsch, English 2:28
2012-08-02 Tip: Enforce Referential Integrity (RI) on Access Relationships 3:13
2012-04-02 Convert VLOOKUP equations to Access, by Crystal -- VLOOKUP Week 23:42
2012-03-30 Excel VLOOKUP to Calculate Distances using Latitude & Longitude, by Crystal -- VLOOKUP Week 15:06
2012-01-29 Crystal's Code Documenter - Free Utility for Access 2007 and 2010 12:26
2012-01-02 Learn Access -3- Build a Database -- music by David Bailey 8:01 music by David M. Bailey, "One More Day"
2011             Goto Top
2011-06-11 Access Utilities: Simil Fuzzy String Matching by Tom van Stiphout, VBA -- English, Dutch, French 9:58
2011-02-23 Access Utilities: Tony's Auto FE Updater 7:05
2009             Goto Top
2009-11-02 Access 2010: Outlook-Style Calendar in Browser, by Albert Kallal 6:54
2009-06-09 Learn Access -2.C- Planning Fields and Relationships -- English, French -- music by Mark Davis 10:00 music by Mark Davis, "Broken Ground"
2009-03-10 Learn Access -2.B- Planning Database Fields 9:59 music by Ken Gaines, "Pool", Live performances, YouTube channel
2009-02-17 VBA -- Winner by Random Draw 6:16
2009-02-13 Learn Access -2.A- Planning Design -- English French Portugese 9:28 music by Jubal Lee Young, "I Don't Know What I Want"
2009-01-27 Learn Access -1- Perspective -- English, French, Portugese 9:46 music by Doug Clark Steiger, "These Hands", Play Album
MY PRESENTATIONS             Goto Top
2022-06-20 Word Automation from Access VBA Deep Dive 52:58 Create professional Word documents from Access using Word Automation. This is a deep dive into code to create content with text, images, fields, and hyperlinks, format, save, and open the finished document with VBA.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
Word Automation VBA Reference and Download
2022-06-02 Drawing Shapes in an Access Report - Elements and Atoms 1:20:28 Learn how to draw on reports! See examples of different types of reports that use drawing. Use the Line Method to draw lines and rectangles, which can be filled with any color, and have any color for the border. Use the Circle method to draw circles, ellipses, and arcs (open and closed). Like Line, any color can be used to fill closed shapes. Use the Print method to write text.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Pacific
Report Draw Reference
2022-05-04 Classic vs Modern Charts 1:15:43 Compare Classic and Modern Charts. What are the benefits and shortcomings of each?
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Europe
2021-12-28 Beginning Access Developer, Part 4 - VBA! with Maria Barnes 57:12 Fast-paced lesson on VBA. Get exposed! See the possibilities! This is the last part of a series for beginning Access developers. User defined functions, reusing code, dimensioning variables, macro actions and converting to VBA, parameters, modifiers, TempVars, properties, locals, watch, call stack, immediate window, collections, options, compiler directives, VBA Shortcut Keys, and more.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
2021-09-02 Get Extended File Properties from Windows with free Access tools, with Colin Riddington 58:15 What is the metadata that you don't normally see? Overview of free tools by Wayne Phillips (EverythingAccess.com) and Colin Riddington (isladogs.co.uk) Currently, there are more than 300 extended file properties such as the size of a picture or the duration of a video that is now a piece of cake to get!
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Pacific
2021-08-31 Beginning Access Developer, Part 3 – Queries, with Maria Barnes 57:12 Queries are powerful! And there are lots of different types of queries you can create with Access. Learn how they can do so much more than just select data Much of what this covers is beyond where a beginner will go ... but knowing what's possible is important.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
2021-02-23 Beginning Access Developer, Part 2 – Forms, Reports, Macros, QAT, with Maria Barnes 52:16 create various forms and reports, formatting, sections, grouping and sorting, error indicators. Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). Macros - AutoExec, AutoKeys. Trust Center and security.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
2020-12-29 Tips and Shortcuts for the Beginning Access Developer, Part 1, with Maria Barnes 54:03 Overview of Tables, Queries, Forms, and Reports -- database design, indexes, relationships, tables, and queries. Different ways to create tables and paste data in from other places. Relationships and Indexes. Shortcuts to navigate, edit, launch features like the Zoom box or Spell Checker, do Window things, enter data, and more. Properties and some settings for options. Creating queries. Lots of Shortcuts!
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
ShortcutKeys PDF
2020-08-25 Making and Using Access Add-Ins 49:09 How to create and install an Add-in for Microsoft Access, and how to fix some of the errors that you might encounter.
AccessUserGroups.org, Access Lunchtime
Help page for making add-ins
2020-04-24 CalendarMaker 16:02 Quick overview of how to make calendar reports from any query
Access DevCon
CalendarMaker database
2020-01-17 CalendarMaker 49:05 Easily make calendars from any query
AccessUserGroups.org, Access ET
CalendarMaker database

video production notes

All these videos were recorded and produced with Camtasia, by TechSmith. Graphics done with Snagit, PowerPoint, and Paint. Animation is usually done by Camtasia or PowerPoint. PowerPoint presentations and screen demos are recorded with Camtasia using 1280x720, 30 fps (might change to 24 = lowest for HD - high definition). Audio sampling rate is usually 44,100, edited with GoldWave, and produced at 512 kbps. Final production is then produced in MP4 or MOV (bigger file, better quality, not as universally rendered) format. Captions are done separately and use my free Access Caption File application.


thanks for the music

* special thanks to the talented musicians who have generously allowed their music to be shared here, and do what they were born to do, despite how hard it can be in this age ... time for another renaissance? If you like the music, perhaps you will let the artists know? and support them? What creative things can you do, that you enjoy doing? Your gifts are to share with others ...


Learn Access on GoSkills

Here is a 40-lesson course to teach you how to build an application with Microsoft Access. These lessons are on GoSkills. Not free, but not much either. To get a price of 69 for 12 months of access (to Access), click here for special price -- but sometimes the price is even better, so watch for sales around the holidays. GoSkills also has other courses you may be interested in. Click here for the Access course outline. Note the "Try it!" button to preview lessons for free ... there are 3 of them. In addition to the video, most of the lessons have a start and end download database, all have a "Quick Reference" with terminology and steps, and all have a quiz you can take to test your knowledge. The "Transcript" tab shows a written script of the spoken words. Captions are highlighted as each video is played when they are said.

How much time? On average, plan 2 hours per lesson ... so 80 hours for the course -- don't put off starting! Plan a couple hours a week to study. Watch. Then do it yourself, and watch again, pausing as needed. Best to only use the download databases to check your work. Sometimes there will be other download files such as data to import. Each lesson builds on what you have learned already. Take the quizzes and read the extra information. Get a solid foundation for building Access applications.

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