Access 2013 Bible

Chapter 2: Getting Started with Access

IN THIS CHAPTER

Looking at the Access welcome screen

Creating a database from scratch

Opening a new database

Getting acquainted with the Access interface

In this chapter, you'll gain an understanding of the major components of the user interface. Even if you're an experienced Access user, you may be surprised at how different the Access 2013 interface is from previous versions.

The Access Welcome Screen

If you open Access 2013 via Windows (Start⇒Programs⇒Access 2013), you'll see the default welcome screen shown in Figure 2.1. The welcome screen gives you several options for opening an existing Access database or creating a new database.

Note

If you open an Access database directly from Windows Explorer (by double-clicking it), you won't see the welcome screen. Instead, you'll go directly to the database interface covered later in this chapter.

In the upper-left corner of the welcome screen, you'll notice the Recent section. The files listed here are databases that you've previously opened through Access 2013. You can click any of the database files listed there to open them.

Note

Access does not distinguish existing databases from deleted databases when populating the Recent section. This means you could see a database in the Recent list that you know for a fact you've deleted. Clicking an already deleted database in the Recent list will simply activate an error message stating that Access could not find the database.

FIGURE 2.1

The ...