How can I lock the Design View of forms etc in a Microsoft Access database so that the person I give this to cannot edit the project?
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How can I lock the Design View of forms etc in a Microsoft Access database so that the person I give this to cannot edit the project?
You can lock your Access forms down in such a way that the Design View is no longer visible, and optionally the Datasheet View etc are also no longer visible.
Locking your database also has the bonus that it compiles (e.g. encrypts) any VBA from prying eyes… useful!
First you need to decide whether you want to lock only Design View, or also all other Views. If you want to lock only Design View, then skip right ahead to Step 6.
If your project is not backwards-compatible to previous versions of Access, then any references to MDB files will show for you as ACCDB files. Any reference to MDE files will show for you as ACCDE.
1. If your project is saved as Access 97/2000 compatible, you must first convert it to 2002 format. You can do this by going to the Orb > Save As > Access 2002-2003 Database:
2. Open any form
3. Open Design View
4. From the default tab that opens (Form Design Tools > Design), select Property Sheet:
5. From the Property Sheet, change the Views that you want to lock to No:
6. Finally, to create your locked down database file, select Database Tools > Make MDE:
7. You will be asked where you want to save the new MDE file to. Your old MDB file will be retained.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep your old MDB file!! If you ever need to make any changes to your project, you can only do this in the original MDB file.