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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-12T06:38:05+00:00

A client of mine accidentally deleted about 500 records from an access table that

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A client of mine accidentally deleted about 500 records from an access table that has a primary ID field which was created as “autonumber”. By turning off the autonumber column (changing back to a integer), I was able to restore the missing 500 records from a backup, but now of course the autonumber cannot be turned back on…

What are some possible solutions? The ID field is used as a link to other tables, so I can’t just renumber everything without also renumbering all of the tables that reference this number (a pain in the neck, but possible).

Is there any “trick” to turning autonumber back on, using the max(id) as the starting point if data already exists in the table?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Make newTable with ID field as AutoNumber (all fields must be same as in original table – except ID). Copy all data from originalTable to newTable:

    INSERT INTO newTable SELECT * FROM originalTable

    Once data is filled, delete originalTable and rename newTable to originalTable.

    This way all “holes” in auto-numbering are preserved and newTable has Auto-Numbering turned on.

    P.S. Always try to add foreign keys to your IDs. In that case, even if some data is deleted, you will at least have consistent state.

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