Access has some great wizards that make the importing process easy. Here are the steps for importing or linking data sources to your Access database:
Open the Access database that will hold the imported data and click the External Data tab on the Ribbon.
The Import & Link group of buttons appears on the Ribbon.
Each button is connected to a wizard that walks you through the process: Common file formats such as Excel or Text (labeled as Text File) have their own specific buttons; you can find the less common file formats using the More button.
Click the button that matches your file format.
A Get External Data dialog box specific to the selected file format appears onscreen.
Select the data source that you want to import or link to Access.
Usually this is a file. It could also be a SharePoint site or an Outlook folder.
Select the method of data storage.
This is where you tell Access whether to import or link the data.
Follow the remaining steps in the Get External Data dialog box and then click Finish.
From this point forward, the steps depend on which data format you're importing. Follow the prompts carefully. The worst that can happen is that you get an imported (or linked) table full of gibberish. If you do, check the format of the source file.
For example, if the source is a text file and you get gibberish, you may need to confirm that the text file was saved as a delimited file (with a character — a comma, for example — placed between fields). It's also possible that the source file isn't in the correct format (for example, you may think it's an Excel spreadsheet, but it's not).
If you expect to import or link to this type of file often, click the Save Import Steps check box.
The check box will be located on the last screen of the wizard. After you check the box, you'll be prompted for a name for your import. If you import this data on a regular basis, such as the first day of the month, click the Create Outlook Task check box. Access will set up an Outlook task for you that includes a button to run the task from Outlook.
If you saved the import, click Save Import to complete the import process and save the import for future use.
