Convert old Access data to new Access (.accdb format)

(Applies to Access for Office 365 Access 2016 Access 2013 Access 2010 Access 2007 Access 2019)

Access 2016, Access 2013, Access 2010 and Access 2007 create databases in the .accdb file format.As we all know, this format supports features such as multivalued fields, data macros and pushes to Access Services.

Now you can completely convert the created databases in Microsoft Office Access 2003, Access 2002, Access 2000 or Access 97 to the .accdb format.However, keep in mind that a database in .accdb format will not be able to open or link using older versions of Access 2007 than Access 2007.

In addition, the .accdb format does not support backup or user-level security.If you need to share the database with Access 2003 users and earlier versions or if you need to back up or use user-level security, you must use the .mdb format.

Note: Even if a user shares the same format, some Access 2016, Access 2013, and Access 2010 features will still not work in Access 2007. For more information, see Access 2007 usage. To open a database that is created or modified in Access 2010, Access 2013 or 2016 Access at the bottom of this article.

Convert an Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 database into the .accdb format

To convert an Access 2000 or Access 2002-2003 database (.mdb database) into .accdb format, you must first access the database using Access 2007, Access 2010, Access 2013 or Access 2016, and then save it in .accdb format.

1. Click File , then click Open .

2. Click on the database (.mdb) of Access 2000 or Access 2002 - 2003 that you want to convert.

Note, if you see that the Database Enhancement dialog box appears, it means that the database is using a file format that is older than Access 2000. To resolve this issue, see Convert an Access database. 97 into .accdb format at the bottom.

3. Click File , then select Save As , and then click Save Database As.

4. Select the Access file format and then click Save As.

If there are any database files opened after you click Save As , Access prompts you to close them before creating a new copy of the copy. Click Yes to force Access to close the files or select No to cancel the entire process.Access will also prompt you to save any changes if necessary.

5. In the Save As dialog box, enter the file name in the File name box and then click Save .

Access will create a copy of the database and will open that copy.Access will also automatically close the original database.

Convert a database in Access 97 to .accdb format

Since Access 2013, it is no longer possible to directly convert the Access 97 database (.mdb) to the .accdb format.However, you can still access the Access 97 database in Access previous versions of 2013, then save the database in the format that Access 2013 can open.For example, you can use Access 2003 to open an Access 97 database, and then convert this database into a format that Access 2013 can open:

1. Open the Access 97 database in Access 2003.

2. Click Tools> Database Utilities> Convert Database> to Access 2002-2003 file format

3. Enter a name for the database and click Save .

4. Close Access 2003 and start Access 2013.

5. Open the newly created database and click File> Save As> Access Database (.accdb)> Save As> Save.

You can also use Access 2007 or Access 2010 to convert Access 97 databases into .accdb format.When you open the Access 97 database in one of these versions, the Database Enhancement wizard appears, which transforms the database into .accdb format.

Use Access 2007 to open a created or modified database in Access 2010, Access 2013, and Access 2016

Because Access 2016, Access 2013, and Access 2010 and Access 2007 all use the same file format, you can use Access 2007 to open a database that was created in Access 2010, Access 2013. However, Access 2016, Access 2013, and Access 2010 have some Access 2016, Access 2013, and Access 2010 features required to run, but cannot be run on Access 2007. Depending on what feature features are , one of the following problems will appear when you try to use the database in Access 2007:

1. You cannot change the object using that feature.
2. You cannot open the object using that feature.
3. You absolutely cannot open the database in Access 2007.

See more:

1. Create data queries in Access 2016 from simple to complex
2. Work with data in Access 2016
3. 10 security tips for Access database
4. Introduction to databases - Database