How to Create Queries in Microsoft Access

Updated 2009-12-01 | Filed under Microsoft Access Tutorials | PDF

The following tutorial will provide a step-by-step process to create a query in Microsoft Access.

Estimated Time: 10 Minutes.

This tutorial will assume that you have an existing database with tables already created. If you are unsure of how to do this, follow our simple tutorial on creating tables.

Step 1: Open an existing database

First open an existing database which has a table that you'd like to collect information with. In my case I've opened the Northwind database which contains the Order Details table.

Step 2: Click on Queries tab

Under the Objects Pane, click on Queries.

Step 3: Create Query with Design view

Double-click on "Create Query in Design view".

Step 4: Select tables to be used for query

This will open a new window in which you can select the tables you'd like to make a query with. For this example I'm going to select the Order Details table.

Step 5: Select fields you want to show in the query

For the Order Details table I only want to see the UnitPrice, Quantity, and Product. I can select these fields by dragging them from the QuickView table into Quick Table View. Or I can simply go to the Field and Table row in the Quick Table View and select the desired field and table.

Step 6: Define a criteria for each Field

The criteria row allows you to display a specific set of data depending on your needs. In my case I only want products with a UnitPrice of $5 or less. Hence, I've entered '<=5' into the criteria under the UnitPrice field.

Step 7: Save and run query

Close the query window and save the query with an appopriate name. That's it, you're done! Now simply double-click on the query in the Query pane to run it.

In my case I see a table with the UnitPrice, Quantity, and Product from the Order Details table. Since I entered a criteria for the UnitPrice, I'm only seeing products that cost $5 or less.

Congratulations on creating your query! There are many uses for queries.
You may want to display the queries internally in your company or even display them to the public depending on the data you're storing.

If you're looking to distribute your database tables, queries, and forms take a look at this tutorial.

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