# Microsoft Access Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Microsoft Access the right Database solution for you? Explore 207 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/233275/Microsoft-Access/reviews --- Microsoft Access 4.4 (207) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/233275/Microsoft-Access/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Microsoft Access Ease of use 4.0 Customer Service 3.9 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews AM Antoine M AuditBanking, 1,001 - 5,000 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “It is strong for combining tables, queries, forms, and reports in one desktop tool.“ April 30, 2026 RS RICARDO S Sales RepresentativeComputer Software, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “You cannot create executables, this forces you to have MS Access installed on the PC where you want to run your application.“ March 6, 2025 AB Aaron B Manufacturing EngineerAutomotive, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Access has been a power full tool do handle and take care of my large data bases tasks, and its potential for automatization“ July 11, 2025 Chuck K Software EngineerInformation Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Its performance starts lagging when your database starts getting somewhat large.“ August 21, 2025 Chuck K Software EngineerInformation Services, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Overall it is a great tool if you are starting with a small dataset. “ August 21, 2025 EM Ezra M OwnerLuxury Goods & Jewelry, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “It sometimes has trouble importing files from other databases not created with Access giving you a mess to clean up.“ August 28, 2024 Luis T business operative assistentInformation Technology and Services, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Microsoft Access is a widely used desktop database management system that offers a range of features for creating, managing, and analyzing data“ May 30, 2023 KD Kevin D BrokerTransportation/Trucking/Railroad, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Sometimes its a bit difficult to know why an item is ending up in paste-errors.“ January 20, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 207 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Chuck K. Software Engineer Information Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great tool for smaller databases." August 21, 2025 4.0 Overall it is a great tool if you are starting with a small dataset. Also, because of the integrated forms, it is easy to provide this in a central location to do structured data collection from multiple people. Pros Access is simple to use and made setting up relatively small databases quick and easy. Having integrated forms also made it easy to move the database around as needed. Cons Its performance starts lagging when your database starts getting somewhat large. I also sometimes had struggles getting other tools to connect to it. Alternatives considered [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/)[Microsoft Excel](https://www.capterra.com/p/176574/Excel/) Reason for choosing Microsoft Access We needed more power than spreadsheets could provide but given we were working with smaller datasets, SQL Server was overkill as well as more work to set up. Review Source Guy G. Director Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A good database and query solution" August 1, 2024 4.0 find for small or quick projects, but sometimes lacking for more complex needs Pros Compatibility and familiarity with all other Microsoft product family Cons feels somewhat less powerful and functional than other database and query engines Alternatives considered [Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.capterra.com/p/1417/SQL-Server/) Reason for choosing Microsoft Access We didn't, we used both for different projects, Review Source AM Antoine M. Audit Banking Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Excellent for quick internal databases, but limited at scale" April 30, 2026 4.0 Pros What I liked most about Microsoft Access is how quickly you can build practical internal tools without heavy development. In practice, databases for portfolio tracking, client registers, audit follow-up, inventory logs, or workflow forms can be created relatively fast. It is strong for combining tables, queries, forms, and reports in one desktop tool. Cons What I liked least about Microsoft Access is scalability. Once data volumes grow, many users need simultaneous access, or governance requirements become stricter, the tool reaches limits. It can also become fragile if poorly designed with many linked objects and VBA dependencies. Review Source KC Kayla C. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Access is ok for low level needs" October 30, 2023 1.0 I did not love our overall experience with Microsoft, I was most happy when we no longer had to use it. Pros It was very intuitive to use and like other microsoft products. Cons The inability to put multiple donations in and have them show when we pulled reports. Reason for choosing Microsoft Access I do not believe that the staff at the time looked for anything else. they went with access because it was free to us. Switched from [Website Toolbox](https://www.capterra.com/p/158889/Website-Toolbox/) It was a decision made prior to my coming to work here. Review Source AB Aaron B. Manufacturing Engineer Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "ACCESS review" July 11, 2025 5.0 The hole experience is very good with access, in my case I use it to handle welding data for several hundreds of robots in a body shop. I use access for this data handling and it is easier to do this task in access than in any other software, for instance excel. And also make depth and complicated link within information easier. Pros I think microsoft access has a lot more pottential than all people realized, it was a very good tool to handle and manage large data bases. Many people do not know this product exist and that is a shame, at the same time most people do not actually handle such a large data base so that excel does not meet their needs. Access has been a power full tool do handle and take care of my large data bases tasks, and its potential for automatization Cons At this time with this software in specific, I actually have not find any problem or complain about access it, works well for data storage and data handling, and it is compatible with microsoft apps and others. Review Source Parsa G. AI Data and Insight Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "User-Friendly Database Management with Scalability Limitations" August 28, 2025 4.0 I would rate Microsoft Access as a robust and versatile database management tool, suitable for small to medium-sized projects. Pros Its user-friendly interface and integration with other Microsoft Office products make database management and reporting accessible for non-technical users. Cons Limited scalability and performance issues arise with larger datasets, making it less suitable for extensive database projects. Review Source KD Kevin D. Broker Transportation/Trucking/Railroad Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Evergreen - Access" January 20, 2025 5.0 Positive with an improvement in office workflow Pros Access is a full-fledged database program will all of the necessary features Cons Sometimes its a bit difficult to know why an item is ending up in paste-errors. Review Source ES Emily S. Treasurer Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Thank goodness for Microsoft Acces" November 29, 2024 5.0 I've had more than 30 years of using it for various business practices. It's the right tool for the job in so many cases. Pros Microsoft Access has been around for more than 30 years for a reason. It's useful and I couldn't do my work without it. Cons It's usable, but complex. Thankful for lots of YouTube videos to help teach me lots of cool solutions for best practices with using Microsoft Access. Review Source RS RICARDO S. Sales Representative Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Flexible and powerful." March 6, 2025 5.0 It has been my preferred developing platform for years. Pros It is super easy to develop any kind of application using VBA. Cons You cannot create executables, this forces you to have MS Access installed on the PC where you want to run your application. Review Source CB Caitlyn B. Office Administration Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "I have always been a fan of Access" February 19, 2025 5.0 Pros I love the functionality of it. We used it to make a database for our customers. It worked really well! Highly recommend for anyone looking to create a database. Cons It was no longer supported and so we lost our database and had to switch to an online provider. Review Source TW Tonji W. Sales Consumer Goods Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Access the list and the report " January 19, 2025 4.0 Working with Access can be as small as creating a table listed with names, address, and telephone number to as big as analyzing report information in a big company. Pros It stores, creates reports and tables. It uses tables to store data and you can share the created reports. Cons Limited at working with other databases it has some restrictions. Review Source JR Joshua R. Supervisor Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" October 2, 2024 5.0 So far, I’ve had great experience with this Pros If we have an issue with something, you guys look at and fix it right away Cons We’re still having issues uploading certain items we need Review Source VR Verified Reviewer HSBC Banking Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for simple and mid-level databases" April 16, 2022 5.0 Whether you are an experienced programmer or a novice, Access is a great tool. If you do not know SQL, Access can create queries for you. (not VBA though). You can easily integrate Access with all other products - Excel, Txt files, SQL Server, Oracle, etc. If you wish to dwelt deeper into programming - Access is a great place to start, after becoming more experienced, yo can start using SQL Sever, VB, Oracle, and databases and front end applications. Pros If you want a relational database, and don't have hundreds of tables, 100,000+ rows each - access is a database to use. First of all it provides - Back End (tables), Front End (forms), Queries, and built in Reports. if you have many users, you can split - Master Database that will only have tables, and other databases linked to it will hosts forms and everything else while being linked to the main database. It utilizes SQL language and VBA so you can perform pretty much every command you need. You can add any control on Form or Table level to verify what users are doing to prevent errors. Regarding what I said about hundreds of tables - if you simply want to look through tables now and then, but not on regular basis, you can store data outside in large txt files, load them, an then remove. (For that using temporary copies will be most useful) Cons I've been working with Access for about 20 years, many issues I've seen earlier have been fixed. Now if you wish to split a database, it can do it for you. Maximum limit for currency is not a couple of billions anymore (not a huge amount for Financial Companies) My least favorite part is compacting. Database often becomes to large and needs to be compacted before it crashes. Compacting still takes to long, and sometimes database crashes while doing that. I wish some king of automatic compacting can be done without asking the user. Review Source bF badawy F. freelancer Architecture & Planning Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Review about Microsoft Access" December 21, 2021 5.0 I have been working on Microsoft Access since my studies and after graduating from the Urban Planning Department, and I am still practicing it in my job, as it is the rest of the Microsoft group, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, among the programs that are indispensable in many fields. Pros • The main reason may be availability. Microsoft workplace licensing is a should these days and comes with it access. • Most of the time, within the absence of an appropriate information environment, access is incredibly helpful for making a info, which might be simply achieved through an access database with easy queries to extract information. In addition, creating I/O forms makes life a lot of easier to navigate through the database it's very straightforward and intelligible that beginners can handle easily...Where and what will this operate do. • the developer also can use it for his or her own news purposes, it's going to facilitate in data analysis and that they also can work on reporting. • we will even have information during a table format that customers can simply understand. making entity relationship diagrams for multiple tables and creating sample diagrams is incredibly simple Cons • One of the downsides of the program is that with the massive range of information inputs, the applying becomes slower, that ends up in a rise within the time in extracting ANd process data. • Typically it produces a mistake because of an sudden ending that I ne'er understood. • It' not as climbable as alternative enterprise information solutions, though it will still do the task. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Director Monitoring Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Microsoft access for devolpment" September 18, 2022 5.0 Pros Easy managing databases with simple suit, no coding for relationships between tables, just click and dragg. Field control, data control options are awesome which to provide easier method than to code it, while for advance scenarios vba coding also available and can be done. Forms, reports, queries are designated separately but linkage available. Quick output for most no debugging and complilation, objects can be dragged and thier position, functions can be set even with mouse only. Universal access of program no special setting etc required if file is ttanafered to another PC. Linkage for mysql server is also facilitated. Database import export can be made with. Excle,. Csv files too. Cons No remote access of files, user based restriction is to be designed, multi user access is limited. No track of devoloment status. No log of maintenance is created. Review Source MMK Mokwena Macdee K. Owner and Software Developer Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My favourite database. Very good for small teams. " February 15, 2024 4.0 Since 2001. I studied it in detail. I earned a living for more than 10 years programming databases for small businesses. I think it is still good if used as a personal database only. Pros Very cheap to procure, program and deploy. Very good if used by a team of less than 4 people. Cons Not suitable to be deployed on the internet. All 3 of us use the Microsoft Access database from the same computer. Reason for choosing Microsoft Access Others were very expensive. Way out of my budget. Review Source SS Scott S. CFO Veterinary Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Your choices are limtied" August 10, 2023 5.0 Access does it's job well for being a self contained DB program. There are "free" alternatives, that are good for using with access, but when starting from scratch I would still push for Access first. Pros Access is Industry standard for in-house database and finance management in my opinion. Cons Since Microsoft has gone 360/cloud, you seem to get a lot less value for the money. Previously a version of access or office could last you several years with updates, hence Microsoft's promise to update for life once you purchase a product - now you just can't purchase a product anymore, you have to "subscribe" Reason for choosing Microsoft Access Industry standard Review Source MM Michael M. Partner Retail Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Basic But Solid Data Management" September 8, 2022 5.0 I use Access and Excel daily to keep 20,000+ inventory items up to date for my e-commerce site. I cannot imagine working without Access. Pros My favorite thing about Access is that it works well with Excel, and I like to transfer my tables from Access to Excel so I can do data manipulation on them and then return them to Access. Of course there's more risk in operating in this manner but it also enables me to do things that would be difficult or impossible with Access alone. Cons There's limits on field sizes when moving back and forth between Excel and Access that are frustrating and seem to me to be unnecessary with our modern, higher powered computers. Review Source RB Ratulovszky B. Web Developer Computer Software Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Very useful, very efficient" August 30, 2022 4.0 In general, this software will be of great benefit to all users. Mostly easy to handle, clean and efficient. I can only recommend! Pros Very clean and mostly easy to use, very efficient for users. Cons Often, the software is not yet completely clear or has an old design, which raises errors and questions for the user. Review Source AD Aldrin D. Mr Architecture & Planning Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Perfect for Data management file for small to medium type of organization" April 12, 2023 5.0 As a newbie learner apps a like tools developer , this apps is for you. Its convenient to use. It needs no enough knowledge in VBA language to develop a simple data system but its compulsory to know programming to have an appealing one. For an office to have a nice office documentation, this is recommended. Pros I like MS office access because its easy to use specially if someone is using a developed system developed by some users for easy functionality. Its good for office documents and reporting. It can handle large data files. For small developers using this software, easy to use and convenient. Not needing more vba knowledge to creates a simple system, Easy to create tables, query, forms and reports. Buttons are ready made. You just need to follow proper clicking of commands to get the right function. More convenient that MS Excel. Cons If not properly setup in a network can affects its full functionality due to overloading of users. It may stop on working and need to restart the software again. It crashes sometimes if not properly handled. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer systems administrator Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best office suite " June 30, 2022 5.0 Pros Microsoft Access is very user-friendly for my business it makes it easy for me and simple to use Cons No anomaly detected, everything is perfect Review Source VR Verified Reviewer freelancing E-Learning Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "free the workforce" December 1, 2023 5.0 Pros the software has been better for me especially when I can use it in building data analysis features and the security in the software is great. also, the great thing I love is the fact that there is automation and macros in the system which makes work much easier. Cons The thing I do not like is the limited web application development where I can not be able to build or develop apps. also the file size limitation of 2 GB Review Source AS Aria S. Design Consultant Publishing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best For Small Office To Enterprise" February 26, 2022 5.0 This tool is very helpful for me, specially for organizing files without the need of very high programming skills. Beginner to expert can use this tool in a very easy way to learn. Pros Database management functions make it easier for people, even beginner, to work with this software. There's no need for advanced qualifications to use this tool for everyday life. Cons Data synchronization sometimes takes longer than it needs to be Review Source MM Maizy M. Music Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good Database Tool" November 29, 2021 5.0 We've found we're able to store and query our data easily with Access. It's smooth and complete for a database tool. It works without issue - so no reason to look for something else. Pros Microsoft Access is Microsoft's professional level product to address databases. Overall, I think it works really well, as many companies have adopted and use it, including my own. I love how it's Microsoft supported, so you can have confidence in its reliability. It relatively easy to use. It does require knowledge of databases and SQL, which may go without saying. My workplace uses Access for data storage, and it does well in its presentation and response from querying. Cons Like a lot of Microsoft tools, they seems to be over blown with "bells and whistles". Microsoft Access definitely has many more options than I'll ever understand or know what to do with. This does give it a busy feel that can be intimidating, however, everything I've used with it has worked well. Review Source JM John M. Operations Supervisor Consumer Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Microsoft Access is essential software for any business large or small" November 3, 2022 5.0 Overall, I cannot imagine not having it in our customer service call center. From using to access product information from callers, to using for call tracking and resolution of issues, it is a very versatile software product. Pros Microsoft Access provides quick sorting and distribution of database information Cons Access can be a bit cumbersome to program. However, the more familiar you are with the product and the more time you spend setting it up, the more easy to use and efficient the end product is. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Database](https://www.capterra.com/database-management-software/) ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.