Set or change a field's data type or size (MDB)

1. Open the table in Design view.
2. Click the Data Type column of the field you want to change, click the arrow, and select the new data type.
3. Click Save on the toolbar.

Caution  If the data type conversion would result in lost values, Microsoft Access displays a message telling you that errors occurred during conversion before it actually saves the changes. Click Cancel to cancel the changes. Click OK to continue and save the changes anyway.

Note  In large tables, changing a data type might take a long time. If you want to cancel the conversion process at any point while it is running, press CTRL+BREAK, and then click OK.

1. In table Design view, in the upper portion of the window, click the field whose FieldSize property you want to set.
2. In the lower portion of the window on the General tab, click the FieldSize property box.
3. Do one or more of the following:

   For a Text field, type the maximum number of characters to allow in the field (up to 255).

   For a Number field, click the arrow and select the desired field size.

   For more information on field sizes, click the FieldSize property box and press F1.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and click the Tables/Queries tab.

2. Under Default field sizes, do one or more of the following:

   In the Text box, type the maximum number of characters to allow in the field (up to 255).

   In the Number box, click the arrow and select the desired field size.