Microsoft Access - 4 Steps to Adding Data to a Database Table

I will show how easy it is to add data to a database table in Microsoft Access. I will assume that from the previous readings, you already have a database called "MyFirstAccessDB" and table inside that database called "People". The "People" table should have the fields "FirstName", "LastName", "Age", and "State".

This example will be using the "MyFirstAccessDB" and adding data to the "People" table. If you have not followed along with the rest of the readings written here, then you can just as well do this example using your own database and your own table that you already have. Just replace the names of the fields I use with the fields in your database table.

1. Open the Database

Obviously, you want to open the database that has the table to which you will be adding data.

If you look at the main Database window where you originally double-clicked "Create table in Design view" to create the table previously, you should see at the bottom, an icon that resembles a table with the name of your table next to it.

This is where you will go to access that table. Up to this point, we have created a database, and also a table inside that database which has 4 fields. However, we have yet to add any actual data to our database.

2. Open the Table

We will be adding data to the table that is showing in the main Microsoft Access window. So double-click on the name of the table. In this example, it is a table called "People" with fields called "FirstName", "LastName", "Age", and "State" of data type "Text", "Text", "Number", and "Text", respectively.

After double-clicking on the table you will be adding data to, a new window should open called "People : Table" (or whatever the name of your table happens to be).

3. Add Data to the Table

You should see 4 columns that I mentioned earlier and that you should have created from the previous reading. So we will now be adding rows to this table. Each row will represent a new person in our table.

For this example, I will add 3 people with the following values for the first name, last name, age, and state: "John, Doe, 89, Florida", and "Jack, Tripper, 36, California", and "Larry, Dallas, 38, Arizona". You can click on the individual cells to change that piece of information from this table view. As soon as you begin entering information in the last row, a new blank row will automatically get created so that you can continue entering more people into the table. You should see 4 rows after having entered the 3 people (4th row being blank, ready to accept data for another person).

4. Save the Updated Table

Once you are done entering people into the table, click on "File -> Save" (or click on the save icon on the toolbar). Now you FINALLY have a Microsoft Access database that has a table which has actual data.