How to Change a Field's Data Type in Access 2003

When you first design and build a database, you plan one or more tables, define the fields (columns) for each table and set a data type for each field. For example, if you need to store dates and times, you set a field to the Date/Time data type. If you need to store names and addresses, you set one or more fields to the Text data type, and so on. Here are some steps on how to change a field's data type in Microsoft Access 2003.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Access 2003
• Computer

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Access 2003 by clicking on the icon on your desktop. You can also load the program by accessing it through the Start menu on your computer.

2. Open your table in Design View.

3. Locate the field that you want to change.

4. Click in the DataType field to the immediate right of the field name. An arrow will appear.

5. Click on the arrow to produce a menu listing of data types.

6. Select the new data type that you want.

7. Click "Save" on the toolbar (or Press Ctrl + S, or click on "Save" under the Edit menu).

Tips & Warnings

• If your table contains data, make a backup copy of the table before you change data types or field sizes.

• If the data-type conversion would result in lost values, Microsoft Access displays a message telling you that errors occurred during conversion before it actually saves the changes. Click "Cancel" to cancel the changes. Click "OK" to continue and save the changes anyway.

• In large tables, changing a data type might take a long time. If you want to cancel the conversion process at any point while it is running, press Control + Break (or Command + the period, on a Mac) and then click "OK."