Create Action Queries in Microsoft Access

Queries within a DBMS system can do more than display answers to the questions you ask. They can actually perform various actions on the data in your database. Action queries are queries that can add, change, or delete multiple records at one time. The added benefit is that you can preview the query results in Access before you run it. Microsoft Access provides 4 different types of Action Queries: Make-Table, Append, Update, and Delete. This article deals with Make-Table queries.

Steps

1. Start Microsoft Access and open your database
2. Click on the Queries tab of your database.
3. Click on the New button and then select Design View to start creating a query in Design view.
4. Choose the tables or other queries you wish to query
5. Choose the fields from the table/query you want.
   • Just like normal queries, you will often have to specify a criterion in your query to get the results you want.
6. Run the query to make sure your query contains the results are you are looking for.
7. Now, you need to change the type of query this is. In the middle of the screen, click the Query type button.
8. Change to Make-Table.
9. Specify the name of the new table and if it is going to be created in the database you are currently working from, or another database.
   • If you are creating the table for a separate database, you will have to specify the location of it.
10. Run the query.
    • Because you running an action query that makes changes to your overall database structure, Microsoft Access will ask if you want to cancel the operation.
    • Click Yes to close the dialog box, create the new table and return to Query Design View.
11. Save your query, and you're done.

Tips

• Novices to action queries should preview their query before changing it to an action query.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Access
• A database
• Data to consolidate into a new table

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See also

• Keep and Control Records Using Microsoft Access
• Make an Inventory Database in Access
• Use Microsoft Access
• Make a Database Using MS Access
• Find Duplicates Easily in Microsoft Access
• Establish User Level Security in Microsoft Access
• Run a Query in MS Access 2007

What links here

• Use Microsoft Access
• Convert an Mde to an Mdb
• Establish User Level Security in Microsoft Access
• Find Duplicates Easily in Microsoft Access
• Keep and Control Records Using Microsoft Access