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File Extension of MS Access 2003-2016 Version
File Extension of MS Access 2003-2016 Version

The file extension Of MS Access has been changing following the years and the software version. The very first Access version is Access 1.1. Up until Access 2003, the past versions are considered to be legacy version. The most popular Ms. Access extension are .accdb and .mdb. There .accdb file format is come from the Ms Access 2007 version and later. Meanwhile, the .mdb extension is the format from 2003 version and earlier. The popularity of .mdb version is because some people still using Access 2003 version even through it is legacy.

Extension Of Ms Access (1)
Extension Of Ms Access (1)

(The comparison of the file version icon)
Aside of the 2 formats, there are some of popular extension as listed in table below.

 

Current Extension (2007, 2010, 2013, 2016)

Access Blank Project Template .adn
Access Database .accdb
Access Database Runtime .accdr
Access Database Template .accdt
Access Add-In .accda
Access Workgroup .mdw
Protected Access Database .accde

 

Legacy Extension (2003 and earlier)

Access Database .mdb
Access Blank Database Template .mdn
Access Add-in Data .mdt
Access Data Project .adp
Protected Access Database .mde

 

With the different extension, the latest (2007 and later) version can open most of the legacy file types, but not all. Most of the newest version still can open or save the database into .mdb file format. Like most of the software, the early 2003 version cannot open the newest .accdb extension. However, the problems may still occur due to different extension and version. The most common one is inability to save or convert the .accdb to .mdb files because of the recent features that not supported by the older version.

Read Also:  Microsoft Access Count Distinct Values Function
Extension Of Ms Access (2)
Extension Of Ms Access (2)

 

In some cases, you may still able to convert the .accdb into .mdb, but with risk to lost some of the newest feature. This may cause the database to not work improperly or worse, corrupted database.
Note: To convert database, go to save as and choose the .mdb extension in format.

Extension Of Ms Access (3)
Extension Of Ms Access (3)


(Saving Access Database in another file format)

Aside of the different extension, sometimes same extension may still cause error if it opened in different Access version. One of the error is Unrecognized Database Format, which you can read further and solved in Unrecognized Database Format.

Related Access Database

  • example2013 accdb
  • file extension version