How to Use Access Startup Options

Microsoft Access allows you to completely customize what users see and how your database acts when it first starts. Access startup options are a list of options that allow you to control the availability of certain features, add a certain amount of security and set your Access database up as more of an application than a database.

Open Startup Options

To open the startup options menu, open your current database. Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Startup." All startup options are available from this single screen.

Application Options

Under the Application section of the Access startup options, choose an Application Title and Application Icon. The title is typically the name or purpose your database. The Application Icon is an icon image users can press to start the Access database. Unless your Access database is a stand alone application, the Application options can be left blank.

Display Form/Page Options

When your Access database first starts, select a form or switchboard for your users to see and access. Typically, you want to choose a switchboard or form that provides access to the features your users need, such as forms to add data or running a report.

Under the Display Form/Page drop down box are two other options. The first is Display Database Window. If this box is checked, users can still see and open other database objects. If you do not want your users able to view and use the main database object window, uncheck this box.

The second option, Display Status Bar, is to either enable or disable the status bar. The status bar shows the loading status of the database and objects as they open and run.

Menu Bar Options

If you want to control which menu options are available to your Access database users, edit the Menu Bar options. You can create a customized menu bar outside of the startup options. If you do so, select your custom menu from the Menu Bar drop down box.

If you want to prevent users from accessing full menus, uncheck the Allow Full Menus checkbox. Only the bare essential menu objects will be accessible, such as opening a file and printing items. Shortcut menus are menus you access by right clicking objects. These shortcut menus often allow users full control over your database. Prevent access by unchecking the Allow Default Shortcut Menus checkbox.

Shortcut Menu Bar Options

As with the regular menu bars, you can also create custom shortcut menu bars. If you do, you can select your custom shortcut menu bar from the Shortcut Menu Bar drop down list.

The next two options under the Shortcut Menu Bar options section deal with toolbars. Toolbars contain many of the functions listed in the menu and shortcut menu bars. To prevent any edits to your database, uncheck the Allow Built-in Toolbars and Allow Toolbar/Menu Changes checkboxes.

Special Keys Options

Access provides a backdoor to access your database. These special keys can override all other settings. If you do not want users to be able to access items by pressing certain keys, uncheck the Use Access Special Keys checkbox.

Other Considerations

Before you remove any options, create a master copy of the database. This will be the database you actually edit. Once you remove all control, you will not be able to edit your own database. Also note that you can edit access and customize startup options for individual users and groups. You can also create linked databases from your master database. Once you edit the master, changes will duplicate to the linked databases.