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Toggle Views
By Richard Rost   Richard Rost on LinkedIn Email Richard Rost   6 years ago

QuickTip Shortcut Keys Toggle Views with Ctrl-Period & Ctrl-Comma


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In this TechHelp QuickTip video I will teach you about the Ctrl-Period and Ctrl-Comma shortcut keys that you can use to toggle between the different Views in Forms, Reports, Tables, and Queries. Thanks to Kevin Robertson for the tip!

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2 yearsCTL no longer works with query sqlLyle Bailey

 

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Intro In this video, we will talk about how to use the Control Period and Control Comma keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Access to quickly toggle between different views such as Design View, Form View, Datasheet View, Report View, and Print Preview. I will demonstrate how these shortcuts can help you move efficiently between views while working with tables, queries, forms, and reports, making it easier to edit and review your database objects without using the mouse.
Transcript Welcome to another TechHelp Quick Tip video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.

There are a ton of shortcut keys throughout all of Microsoft Office, and I found that trying to learn them all at once can be overwhelming. So don't try. I am going to be presenting you with a new shortcut key Quick Tip every week or so. Try to work it into your daily routine. Over time, you will remember them better and increase your overall productivity.

In today's video, I am going to talk about Control Period and Control Comma. These two keys will toggle backward and forward through your views, whether you are working with a table, query, form, or report. I use them most with forms. You can toggle between design, form, and datasheet views.

They are also handy with reports. You can toggle between Design View, Report View, and Print Preview. With tables, they just go between Design View and Table View, and with queries they go between Design View, Query Datasheet View, and SQL View. I pretty much just use this with forms, though. It is much easier than having to click the Form View button or right-click on the title bar.

Let me show you quickly how it works. Here I am in my simple free customer template, and if I open up the customer form, I decide I want to make a design change. I just hit Control Comma, and I go back to Design View. Done with that, Control Period, and you are back there. Throw in there a little Control S, Control Save. Save it, go back to Design View, finish your edits, Control S to save it, Control Period to go back to Form View. That is nice and easy.

You can also hit it again, Control Period again, to go to Datasheet View, although I do not do that often. Control Comma, Control Comma, Control Period, Control Period. It is like they toggle between the different states.

Here is a simple report I threw together. Control Comma, back to Design View, Control Period, Control Period again, now I am in Print Preview. See that? Nice and quick and simple. Instead of right-clicking, changing in here, or having to come up here and drop this thing down, or down here, there are a million different ways to do things.

But like I said, these shortcut keys, if you try to work a couple every week into your routine, eventually they will become habit, and you are not going to overwhelm yourself.

I have got giant charts that have hundreds of keyboard shortcuts on them. So I am going to try to present one or two of these a week to you, and just add them in slowly.

Special shout out to Kevin Robertson, one of my longtime developer students. He posted this in my Access Forum on my website, and I had never used this before. I never even heard of it. I learned all the shortcut keys that I pretty much used on a daily basis 20 years ago when I first started using Access, and they must have added these relatively recently, because I never knew they existed until two days ago. So thanks, Kevin.

So that is all for this quick tip video. Like I said, it is quick. For more videos just like this one, visit my website at AccessLearningZone.com.
Quiz Q1. What is the main benefit of learning shortcut keys according to the video?
A. It helps you access hidden features in Access
B. It improves productivity by making tasks faster
C. It allows you to customize Microsoft Office
D. It helps prevent software crashes

Q2. What do the shortcut keys Control Period and Control Comma do in Microsoft Access?
A. Add and remove fields in a table
B. Toggle backward and forward through different views
C. Save the current work
D. Close the current window

Q3. Which views can you quickly toggle between using Control Period and Control Comma in forms?
A. Form View and SQL View only
B. Form View, Design View, and Datasheet View
C. Table View and Form View only
D. Print Preview and Report View only

Q4. In reports, what views can be accessed using these shortcut keys?
A. Form View and Table View
B. Datasheet View and SQL View
C. Design View, Report View, and Print Preview
D. Only SQL View

Q5. According to the instructor, which object does he use the shortcut keys most often with?
A. Tables
B. Queries
C. Forms
D. Macros

Q6. What is a recommended approach to learning shortcut keys?
A. Try to memorize them all at once
B. Learn them as you need them in each new version
C. Learn one or two per week and incorporate them into your daily work
D. Use cheat codes to access all shortcuts

Q7. How does the instructor describe switching views with these shortcuts compared to using the mouse?
A. More complicated than using the mouse
B. More time-consuming
C. Much easier than clicking buttons or right-clicking
D. Less accurate

Q8. Who originally posted about the Control Period and Control Comma shortcuts in the Access Forum?
A. Richard Rost
B. Bill Gates
C. Kevin Robertson
D. AccessLearningZone team

Answers: 1-B; 2-B; 3-B; 4-C; 5-C; 6-C; 7-C; 8-C

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.
Summary In today's video from Access Learning Zone, I'm going to share a helpful shortcut that can improve your workflow in Microsoft Access. Over the years, I've noticed that there are a huge number of shortcut keys within Microsoft Office, and trying to memorize them all at once is difficult and unnecessary. My suggestion is to learn a new one every week or so and gradually incorporate it into your daily work. This approach makes it easier to remember them and helps boost productivity over time.

Today's focus is on two specific shortcut keys: Control Period and Control Comma. These shortcuts allow you to switch back and forth between different views in Access, such as tables, queries, forms, or reports. Personally, I use them most often with forms, as they let you quickly toggle between Design View, Form View, and Datasheet View.

They are just as useful when working with reports. With reports, these keys let you switch between Design View, Report View, and Print Preview with ease. For tables, these shortcuts will switch you between Design View and Table View, and in queries, you can move between Design View, Datasheet View, and SQL View. Even though you can use them throughout Access, I tend to use them mainly with forms because it is much more convenient than using the buttons or having to right-click.

Let me explain how this works in practice. If I am in the customer form in my customer template and decide I want to make a change to the design, I just press Control Comma to switch over to Design View. When I'm done, pressing Control Period brings me back to Form View. Often, I'll use Control S to save my work before toggling views. This sequence makes it easy to make edits, save them, and return to working with the form.

You can even press Control Period again to switch to Datasheet View, though I personally don't use that feature as much. By using Control Comma and Control Period, you can cycle through the available view modes very efficiently, moving back and forth with just a couple of keystrokes.

To give another example, if you are building or editing a report, using Control Comma will bring you to Design View, while Control Period will take you into either Report View or Print Preview, depending on which way you are cycling. This makes it much faster than searching through menus, right-clicking, or using the ribbon.

As I mentioned, learning just one or two keyboard shortcuts per week is a manageable way to master these tools. Trying to learn them all at once can quickly become overwhelming. Over the years, I've compiled large charts of keyboard shortcuts with hundreds of options, but my goal here is to help you pick up just a few at a time so you can make them part of your regular routine.

I also want to give credit to Kevin Robertson, who is a longtime student and developer. He shared these shortcut keys on my Access Forum. Even though I've been using Access for over twenty years, I did not know about these particular shortcuts until very recently. It's always great to pick up something new, so thank you, Kevin.

That wraps up this quick tip. If you'd like more videos like this one, you can find detailed tutorials and more helpful resources on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.
Topic List Using Control Period and Control Comma to switch views in Access

Toggling between Design, Form, and Datasheet views in forms

Switching between Design View, Report View, and Print Preview in reports

Navigating between Design View and Table View in tables

Switching between Design View, Datasheet View, and SQL View in queries

Incorporating keyboard shortcuts into daily workflow
 
 
 

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Copyright 2026 by Computer Learning Zone, Amicron, and Richard Rost. All Rights Reserved. Current Time: 4/30/2026 6:23:12 PM. PLT: 1s
Keywords: TechHelp Access shortcutkeys keyboard shortcuts quicktip, shortcut keys, ctrl-period, ctrl-comma, design view, form view, datasheet view, toggle views  PermaLink  Shortcut Keys Toggle Views in Microsoft Access