Microsoft® Office Access 2003 Inside Out

Compacting Your Database

As you delete old database objects and add new ones, the space within your .mdb file can become fragmented. The result is that, over time, your database file can grow larger than it needs to be to store all your definitions and data.

To remove unused space, you should compact your database periodically. No other users should be accessing the database you intend to compact. You can compact the database you currently have open by choosing Database Utilities from the Tools menu and then choosing Compact and Repair Database from the submenu. If you want to compact another database, you must close your current database and then choose the Compact and Repair Database command. Access opens the dialog box shown in Figure 5-35