MS Access Forums and Discussion Groups

Microsoft Access Forums and Discussion Groups

Below is a collection of Microsoft Access forums and discussion groups that I’ve personally found helpful or that others have recommended to me over the years. The entries are listed alphabetically; this order doesn’t imply any ranking or preference.

These sites allow you to post questions and receive real-time help from other users and developers.
 

Things Evolve
Forums are dynamic communities that evolve over time as users and moderators come and go. You may need to explore several to find the one that suits you best and that perfect fit can change as the community evolve. A forum that feels helpful today might shift over time, while one you once overlooked could become your favorite later on.

I encourage you to revisit and explore different forums periodically to ensure you’re getting the best experience, whether you’re seeking help or sharing your own expertise.

 
List last updated 2025-07-17

Access Forums (Free)

Microsoft Access Forums
Discussion forum for Microsoft Access users.
 

Access Learning Zone (Free & Paid)

Access Forum
Welcome to the Microsoft Access Forum. Access is by far the most popular topic here at Computer Learning Zone. This forum is for everyone to read but only students can post. If you'd like to become a student, all you have to do is enroll in one of my courses, which you can do for as little as $1. After you create a logon, you will have full access to the Forums.

PAID – This is a member/student only forum part of Richard Rost Access Learning Zone website.  You have to purchase one of his courses to then benefit from access to these forums which cover multiple subjects (Access, Excel, VB, …), not just Access.

That said, there is a Visitors forum which is open to all after creating an account.
 

Access World (Free)

Access World Forums
Microsoft Access discussion forum
 

Bytes (Free)

Access - POST.BYTES
Microsoft Office Access database and VBA - Ask questions about microsoft access queries, reports, forms, macros, modules, security, automation, functions, records, mining, visual basic for applications and more.

Free – Not a forum I use myself, but I know fellow MVPs that do, so that says a lot.
 

Eileen’s Lounge (Free)

Access/SQL - Eileen’s Lounge
Access/SQL forum

Free – Covers a broad range of IT subject, but also has a Access/SQL forum.
 

Experts Exchange (Free & Paid)

Experts Exchange - The Original Tech Community™
Experts Exchange (EE) is one of the oldest online communities in the world. Tech professionals gather on EE to share knowledge and solve problems together.

PAID & FREE – This is a forum that covers much more than just Access. Name an IT subject and they probably cover it there.   Typically, the quality of support it excellent.

If you contribute (answer questions, write articles, etc), you earn free membership.
 

LinkedIn (Free & Paid)

Free – Yes, that’s right, there are a number of Access groups in LinkedIn in which users ask fellow users for help.  Some groups are more active than others, so look around before posting.
 

Microsoft Q & A (Free)

Free – Supposedly the official replacement for the Microsoft Answers forums.

The main page is:

Microsoft Q&A
The home for technical questions and answers at Microsoft. Get started asking, answering, and browsing questions about products like .Net, Azure, or Teams.

The Office page is:

Microsoft 365 and Office - Microsoft Q&A
A comprehensive suite of productivity tools and cloud services that enhance collaboration, communication, and efficiency. Combining classic Office apps with advanced Microsoft 365 features, it supports both personal and business needs

I have found Q&A painful to use! The tagging system is a far cry from proper categories for tracking.
 

Microsoft Tech Community (Free)

Access
Your community for best practices and the latest news on Access

Free – It is supposed to replace the MSDN forums (above). Here you receive support from other users, not Microsoft.
 

MSAccessProfessionals (Free)

MSAccessProfessionals groups.io Group
SPAM-FREE advice and knowledge pool for beginners through advanced users of Microsoft Access and databases in general. Whether you are seeking help in database design, user interface, complex MS Access VBA code, MS SQL Server, we can help. Our membership includes several MS Access MVPs and questions are answered quickly and accurately! Our Archive contains many sample databases, Utilities, Add-ins, code samples and more.
 

Stack Overflow (Free)

Newest ‘ms-access’ Questions
Stack Overflow | The World’s Largest Online Community for Developers

Free – Stack overflow is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, forums in the world and covers pretty much any IT subject. 

That said, they have a particular format which I have found does not lend itself to the type of back and forth normally needed to resolve Access issue.  For many subjects it is great, for Access specifically, you may wish to keep looking.
 

Tek-Tips (Free)

Free – Claiming to be the biggest IT Community online, they offer a multitude of forums covering just about every possible IT subject.

DBMS Packages
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today! Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
 

VBAExpress (Free)

VBA Express Forum
This is a Microsoft Office Visual Basic for Applications Discussion Forum and Code Center
 

Gone the Way of the Dodo

The following forums no longer exist.

Microsoft Answers (Free)

https://answers.microsoft.com/

Free – No longer exist. It was closed July 16th, 2025.
 
 

Microsoft MSDN (Free)

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=accessdev

Free – No longer exist.  Used to be a very good forum for technical/code oriented questions.
 

UtterAccess (Free)

https://www.utteraccess.com/

Free – No longer exist. It suddenly closed without notice July 13th, 2025.  Used to be a one of the longest running and best Access oriented forums.
 
 

MS Access NewsGroups

If you prefer to use NewsReaders, then below are a couple Newsgroups that cover MS Access.

  • comp.databases.ms-access
  • microsoft.public.access.*