How to Use the ‘Open with Access’ Feature in SharePoint 2013

Do you have a table in your SharePoint site that needs editing in Microsoft Access?  With the “Open with Access” feature in SharePoint 2013, accomplishing this has never been easier. This helpful feature allows users to open and edit a list or table in Microsoft Access and then save the data back to SharePoint.  In this post, we’ll introduce you to this feature, as well as some of its key functionalities.

Using the “Open with Access” Feature:

  • Click the List tab on the Ribbon and select Open with Access:
  • When prompted, specify a location for the new or existing database (.accdb):
  • Input your credentials in order to access your SharePoint site:
  • Your document will now be opened directly in Microsoft Access:

Editing and Updating List Data in Microsoft Access:

  • Right-click List and select Open to open the Data Table to begin editing and updating your data:
  • Once open, your data table will look similar to the one shown below:
  • From here, you are able to edit and add data as needed:
  • To save the changes made in Access to your SharePoint site, simply click Save to save your data, and then click Save to SharePoint Site to save the .accdb file to a document library on your SharePoint Site.

Refreshing Data after Updating a List in Microsoft Access:

  • To see the updates you have made to a List in Access, you will need to go to the SharePoint Site and refresh your data.
  • How your site will look before refreshing:
  • After the refresh:

Want to know more about out-of-the-box Web Parts available for SharePoint 2013? Check out the complete series:

  • How to Use the Script Editor Web Part in SharePoint 2013
  • How to Use Microblogging in SharePoint 2013
  • How to Use the Content Query Web Part to Rollup Data in SharePoint 2013
  • How to Use the Tag Cloud Web Part in SharePoint 2013
  • How to Use the Picture Library Slideshow Web Part in SharePoint 2013
  • How to Use the Community Site Feature in SharePoint 2013