Microsoft Access Connection Help

The preferred way for connecting to Microsoft Access with RazorSQL is via ODBC. This method is only available for Windows users. If you would like to connect to Access on other operating systems such as macOS / Mac OS X machines, see below for more information on options for connecting to Access from a Mac.

Connecting to MS Access via ODBC

To connect to Access via ODBC, an Access ODBC datasource must be configured on the user's machine. For more information on setting up an ODBC datasource, see the following link:

ODBC Setup

When setting up the ODBC datasource, select driver for MS Access Databases (*.mdb) files. When given the option to select the database, browse to your .mdb Access database file. After finishing the ODBC datasource configuration process, RazorSQL will be able to connect to your Access database.

To get connected in RazorSQL, open the connection wizard and select Microsoft Access as the database type and ODBC as the connection type. Select the datasource that was just created from the ODBC datasource dropdown.

Connection to MS Access via non-Windows machines

To connect to MS Access from a non-Windows machine, a Microsoft Access capable JDBC driver is needed. RazorSQL ships with the UCanAccess driver, and there are two other commercial options available on the market. These are listed below. Also, see the following link for more information about opening and editing MS Access database files on Mac- Opening and Editing MS Access Database for macOS / Mac OS X

UCanAccess: This driver is included with RazorSQL. To make a connection to an Access database from RazorSQL with the UCanAccess driver, go to the Connections -> Add Connection Profile menu option. Then, select Microsoft Access as the database type. The UCanAccess driver is the first option in the "Connection Type" list on the next screen.

StelsMDB: This driver comes with a free evaluation period. Google search on StelsMDB for more information.

Hxtt Access JDBC Driver: Google search on Hxtt Access JDBC driver for more information. The JDBC URLs for this driver can be a little confusing. Here are some examples:

Mac / Unix / Linux

If the .mdb file is located in the /Users/user/Desktop directory for example, the URL would be the following:

jdbc:Access:////Users/user/Desktop/test.mdb

Windows

If the .mdb file is located in the C:\Users\user\Desktop directory, the URL would be the following:

jdbc:Access:/C:/Users/user/Desktop/test.mdb