Easy Microsoft Office Access 2003

Click in the field, or column, on which you want to search. For example, to search by last name , click anywhere in the Last Name column.

Open the Edit menu and choose Find .

The Find and Replace dialog box opens with the Find tab displayed. In the Find What field, type the entry you want to find.

Optionally, to search the entire table rather than the field you chose in step 1, click the down arrow next to the Look in field and choose the table name from the list that appears.

INTRODUCTION

In a large table, scanning through the records to find the one you want may be too time-consuming . Instead, search for the record you need. Access enables you to search any of the table's fields. For example, if you remember a client's first name but not his last, you can search for all matching first names .

TIP

Understanding Search Options

The various search options in the Find and Replace dialog box enable you to narrow your search. For example, suppose that you know that a customer's last name starts with Str but aren't sure what follows . You could type Str in the Find What field and then select Start of Field from the Match drop-down list. You can also specify that Access return only those entries that match the capitalization you typed. For example, if you type Smith in the Find What field, Access returns records that contain the entry Smith , but not smith or SMITH .

Click the down arrow next to the Match field and select Whole Field, Any Part of Field , or Start of Field .

Click the Find Next button.

Access locates and selects the record with the first matching entry. If this is not the record you need, click the Find Next button to find the next match and repeat as needed.

Access notifies you when no more matches are found. Click OK .