How to Import Microsoft Excel Data Into Microsoft Access

Microsoft Excel is a great tool for manipulating data and making complex numerical calculations. However, if you have more than 65,000 records or need additional data mining and calculation tools, Microsoft Access may be a better tool for you. For example, if you are looking to filter data based upon certain criteria, Microsoft Access is much better equipped than Microsoft Excel to help you in these efforts. Although Microsoft Access is a very powerful tool, you may not familiar with how to get started in using Access and thus may not be reaping the full benefits that you should be from you data. Importing Microsoft Excel data into Microsoft Access is fairly simple and will give you the flexibility to look at your data in a new way. If you're looking for increased data manipulation capabilities, use the following procedure in order to import Microsoft Excel data into Microsoft Access:

1. Note the file name and location of the Excel file that you would like to export into Access

2. Open Microsoft Access and choose New Blank Database (this option should be found along the right hand side of your screen)

3. Choose File from the Menu Bar
- Choose Get External Data from the File menu
- Choose Import from Get External Data

You will then be prompted to choose the Microsoft Excel file that you would like to import into Microsoft Access (note that you will have to choose Microsoft Excel as the file type at the bottom of the control window in order to see all of the Microsoft Excel files available). Once you have chosen the appropriate file, you will see the "Import Spreadsheet Wizard." This will allow you to choose which spreadsheets you would like to import into Microsoft Access. Once you choose the appropriate sheets, you will see the Microsoft Excel data that you are importing into Microsoft Access. At this point, you can rename the field names, identify the data types (text or numerical), and identify whether or not the data is indexed. Finally, you will be asked whether the data has a primary key, which gives each record a unique identity (the default is that Access will provide each record with a numerical primary key in 1, 2, 3, etc order).

Once you have completed the "Import Spreadsheet Wizard," importing the Microsoft Excel data into Microsoft Access will be complete. You can click on "Sheet 1" to see the data that you have imported and can use the various queries and tables to manipulate your data.