ACCESS DATA TYPES

Format Use to display

Short Text Short, alphanumeric values, such as a last name
or a street address. Up to 255 Characters.
Long Text Long blocks of text. A typical use of a Memo field
(Memo) would be a detailed product description. Up to
65,535 Characters Displayable.
Number, Byte Numbers from 0 to 255 (no fractions)
Number, Numbers from -32,768 to 32,767 (no fractions)
Integer
Number, Long Numbers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Integer (no fractions)
Number, Numbers from -3.402823E38 to -1.401298E-45
Single for negative values and from 1.401298E-45 to
3.402823E38 for positive values.)
Number, Numbers from -1.79769313486231E308 to -
Double 4.94065645841247E–324 for negative values and
from 4.94065645841247E-324 to
1.79769313486231E308 for positive values.
Number, Supports integer numbers up to
LARGE 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
NUMBER
Date/Time Date and Time values for the years 100 through
9999.
Format Use to display
Currency A special kind of decimal number, with up to 4
digits on the right of the decimal point and up to
15 on the left..
Autonumber Automatically generates a unique number for
each record that’s added to a table, and is
commonly used for primary key fields.
Yes/No Yes and No values and fields that contain only
one of two values.
OLE Object Used to embed or link to documents from other
programs like Excel and Word.
Hyperlink Text or combinations of text and numbers stored
as text and used as a hyperlink address.
Attachment Attached images, spreadsheet files, documents,
charts, and other types of supported files to the
records in your database, similar to attaching files
to e-mail messages.
Calculated Results of a calculation. The calculation must
Field refer to other fields in the same table. You would
use the Expression Builder to create the
calculation. Note, Calculated fields were first
introduced in Access 2010.
Lookup Displays either a list of values that is retrieved
from a table or query, or a set of values that you
specified when you created the field. The Lookup
Wizard starts and you can create a Lookup field.
The data type of a Lookup field is either Text or
Format Use to display
Number, depending on the choices that you
make in the wizard.

Lookup fields have an additional set of field

properties, which are located on the Lookuptab
in the Field Properties pane.
Number Formats
Format Use to display
General Numbers without additional formatting exactly as it
is stored. Can specify decimals.
Currency General monetary values..
Euro General monetary values stored in the EU format.
Fixed Numeric data with decimal, but no commas.
Standard Numeric data with decimal.
Percentage Percentages.
Scientific Numbers in Scientific Notation like 3.46E + 03.

Date and Time Formats

Format Use to display
Short Display the date in a short format. Depends on your
Date regional date and time settings. For example,
3/14/2001 for USA.
Medium Display the date in medium format. For example, 3-
Date Apr-09 for USA.
Format Use to display
Long Display the date in a long format. Depends on you're
Date the regional date and time settings. For example,
Wednesday, March 14, 2001 for USA.
Time Display the time only using a 12 hour format that will
am/pm respond to changes in the regional date and time
settings.
Medium Display the time followed by AM/PM.
Time
Time Display the time only using a 24 hour format that will
24hour respond to changes in the regional date and time
settings
Yes/No Formats
Data Type Use to display
Check Box A check box.
Yes/No Yes or No options
True/False True or False options.
On/Off On or Off options.