Update Queries in Microsoft Access 2010

Update Queries in Microsoft Access 2010: Video

This video shows you how to create Update queries in Microsoft Access 2010.

Update Queries in Microsoft Access 2010: Overview

If you want to make large-scale updates to the data in your Access tables based on a specified criteria, you can create “Update” queries to update selected field values based on whether or not the record matches a specified criteria. For example, if you needed to update area codes in a phone number field based on whether or not the phone number contained a specified exchange, you could accomplish that with an update query.

Unlike the ‘select’ queries that we have created so far, when creating update queries all that you need to enter into the QBE grid are the actual fields that you wish to update and the fields that are needed for criteria purposes.

If you do not want to update all of the records in the selected table when you run an update query, then you must specify criteria by which to update the records. That way, when you run the update query you will apply the specified updates to only those selected records that match the given criteria.

To create an update query, first create a new query in design view. Then click the “Update” button in the “Query Type” group of the “Design” tab in the “Query Tools” contextual tab. When you do this, the layout of the QBE grid will change slightly. You will now see a new row appear in the QBE grid named “Update To:.” You then add only the fields from the selected table that you need to update and any fields needed for criteria purposes, and place them into the QBE grid. After that, you enter the value to which you want to update the desired field into the “Update to:” row of the QBE grid, under the field which you wish to update.

Next, apply the criteria by which to select the records to update into the other field or fields, as needed. You can then run the query to begin the update.