It’s that time of the month, patch Tuesday, where Microsoft is supposed to resolve problems, but most often seems to ends up causing new ones at the same time!
Case and point, the latest Office update which has broken Access’ ability to recognize SQL Server Identity columns!
What We Know, Not Much Yet!
Firstly, it is important to note that this new issue only impacts those that use SQL Server as a back-end for the applications.
Furthermore, it only affects new links. So existing links should continue to work properly, but if you create new one, or Refresh existing links, then this issue will appear and impact you.
The problem can manifest itself in a number of ways and can impact forms, code, … You may suddenly see #Deleted in your tables/queries, you may be now getting error 3167 – Record is Deleted, …
The issue was introduced in Office update/version 1912.
The Official Response
Microsoft’s official page on the matter can be found at Access does not recognize the Identity Column in a linked SQL Server table
Also remember:
Depending on your application you may have to refresh or rebuild the link to the SQL Server tables in order to have the Identity columns recognized again.
The Workaround Until We See A Fix From Microsoft
The recommendation at this point in time is to rollback to version 1911, or to switch to the Semi-Annual channel (which is at version 1908) until MS figures this all out.
Sadly, Microsoft QA is simply no longer what it once was and Microsoft seems happy to repeatedly ship untested updates on the general population for their Free testing. Microsoft seems to have shifted from preventing to reactive QA approach. Sadly, anyone in Engineering will tell you how much of a bad idea this approach is!!!
Other Resources
Below are a few links on the subject:
MSDN Thread – The 1912 update to Access 2016/2019/365 breaks the way linked SQL Server tables with identity columns are attached
Answeres Thread – after January update #deleted error when inserting records into sql server linked tables