Microsoft Access 2013 : Basic Things You Need to Know

Create a Database :

1) Right after you start Microsoft Access 2013, this is how your screen will look like :

Click on the Blank desktop database.

2) Choose a name and default location. Click create.

Create a Table 

1) Select CREATE > Table from the Ribbon toolbar

2) Rename the ID field to a new name you want for your table. To do this, Right-click on the ID column and select Rename Field. Enter the new table name.

3) On the next field, click on Click to Add (unless Access has already opened the menu for you) and select Short Text:

At this point, Access will conveniently highlight/select the field name (currently Field1). Enter the new field name.

4) If you wanto to enter date or time, click on Date & Time data type and name the field. For example, let's say you name the field as DateCreated :

Switch to Design View :

1) Click on the View icon at the top left.

2)At this point, Access will ask you to name and save the table you just created. Type your table name and click OK:

3) You are now looking at your Customers table in Design view. Click on the DateCreated field, then in the bottom pane, enter =Now() in the Default Value field. Also click in the Format field and select General Date from the contextual menu:

We have just set a default value for the DateCreated field. This means that, whenever a new record is entered, this field will automatically be populated with the current date and time. We have also specified a format for all dates that are stored in this field.

4) You can easily switch back to Datasheet View by clickin on the View icon at the top left ( just like when you switch to design view). Select the Datasheet View. This is how it looks like :