Compacting and Repairing a Database

What do you do when your database starts acting erratically, or when even the simplest tasks cause Access to crash? Problems of this type can occur when a database gets corrupted or when the database file becomes too large. A database can become corrupted when, for example, Access suffers a system crash. Access can repair many of the problems associated with a corrupted database. The size of the database file may also be the trouble. When you delete objects such as forms and reports , Access does not reclaim the space they occupied. To use this space, you have to compact the database, allowing Access to rearrange the data, filling in the space left behind by the deleted objects.

Compact and Repair a Database

Make sure all users close the database.

Open the database with administrative privileges.

Click the Tools menu, and then point to Database Utilities.

Click Compact And Repair Database.