|
Free Lessons Courses Seminars |
TechHelp Fast Tips Templates |
Topic Index Forum ABCD |
|
||||||
|
|
Access for Free By Richard Rost 
5 years ago
Can You Get Microsoft Access for Free? I get asked all the time if there is any way that you can get Microsoft Access for FREE. Word and Excel have free online versions at Office.com. What about Access? Watch the video for the answer. Janeen from Atlanta GA (a Silver Member) asks: I've got an office of nine people that need to use my Microsoft Access database. It's rather expensive to purchase copies of Office for all of them. Most of them use the free Office Online for Word and Excel. Is there a free version of Access like that? Links
Keywordsmicrosoft access, ms access, #msaccess, #microsoftaccess, ms access free, microsoft access for free, can I get access for free, free download, can you get microsoft access for free, can you get microsoft access for free
IntroIn this video, we will talk about whether you can get Microsoft Access for free. I will explain the difference between Office Online and the desktop version of Microsoft Access, discuss the free one-month trial and ongoing costs, and show you how your team can use the Access Runtime edition at no cost. We will also go over important tips about buying legitimate copies and some considerations when looking at alternatives to Microsoft Access.TranscriptWelcome to another TechHelp video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor Richard Rost.In today's video, we are going to answer the question: can you get Microsoft Access for free? Janine from Atlanta, Georgia, one of my silver members, asks: I have an office of nine people that need to use my Microsoft Access database. It is rather expensive to purchase copies of Office for all of them. Each of them uses the free Office Online for Word and Excel. Is there a free version of Access like that? For those of you who do not know, Microsoft has a version of Office called Office Online, and you get free versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and some of their other apps. All you have to do is go to Office.com and sign up for a free Microsoft account. The online versions are nearly identical to the desktop versions that you buy, and they have most of the features that the average user is going to need. Unfortunately, Access is not one of the applications in Office Online. However, I am going to show you a way where you only have to pay for one person in your company to have a license for Microsoft Access, and everyone else can use your database for free. First, if you do not have Access already, you can sign up for a free one-month trial on Microsoft's website. Make sure you pick the Business Edition because the home editions do not come with Access. After your free month, it only costs $12.95 per month to run Microsoft Office on your computer. Now, that's the price as of the time I am recording this video. It is currently November of 2020, so they may change it in the future. You can get an even bigger discount if you pay for a year up front and purchase from an authorized reseller like Amazon. I'll put a link below in the description below the video. I am always on the lookout for deals for my customers. Now, once you have the full version of Microsoft Access on your computer, you are the only person who needs to pay for the full version of Access. Everyone else in your office can still use the database. They just have to download and install the free runtime edition. The only people who need to pay for a full version of Access are the people who are going to be making design changes to the database. Everyone else who is just using the database to enter and edit data can use the runtime. Honestly, the runtime is better for those kinds of people too because you do not have to worry about them going in and making changes to your database. You install the full version of Access on your computer, build your database, split it, and I have videos to teach you how to do that. Look in the links below for more information. Set the back-end file with the tables up on your server, install the runtime on everyone else's computers, connect to that database, and now they have free copies of Microsoft Access that they can use to work with your database. One thing you do have to be careful about is watch out for scammers. There are lots of them online. A lot of them are advertising that they have got legitimate copies of Microsoft Access or Office and have regular license numbers. Generally, they are not selling legitimate retail versions of Microsoft's Office. They usually have OEM copies or educational student copies that they are not supposed to be selling to businesses. If you run a normal corporation or company, you cannot use the educational version. You can actually get in a lot of trouble from Microsoft if they find out that you are doing that. That is if they even sell you a legitimate copy. It could be a hack. So make sure you purchase from a legitimate retailer or Microsoft directly. You may be able to find older versions of Microsoft Office on different shopping sites like Amazon. The core features of Access have stayed pretty much the same since about 2007 when they made their last major overhaul. If you are using Access in a corporate scenario, $12.95 a month is pretty cheap. That is why I am going to be using this for one user. There are also some products out there claiming to be alternatives to Microsoft Access. However, in my opinion, Access is definitely the best desktop database application available. Nothing else even comes close. Why would you want the second best in system Microsoft Access? I do have a list of alternatives, and I am preparing a full report on which ones I think are okay, but in my opinion, I would stick with Access. So there you have it. Those are my tips for getting Microsoft Access almost free. Of course, you can get a free trial copy for yourself. For everyone else in your company, they can run Access absolutely free of charge. Thanks for watching this TechHelp video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I hope you learned something today. Be sure to like and share this video if you enjoyed it. Make sure to subscribe to my channel to be notified whenever I post new videos. If you need to learn the basics of Microsoft Access and you have not tried my free Access Level 1 course, try it now. It is three hours long and it is absolutely free. Again, I will put a link down in the description below the video. If you have got questions about Microsoft Access, please feel free to post a comment or you can email me. There is my email address right there. Be sure to check out my blog and find me on Twitter. If you need help with your Microsoft Access database, I am available for consulting as well. Please feel free to contact me. QuizQ1. What is included in Microsoft Office Online for free?A. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook B. Access, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint C. Access, Publisher, Outlook, and Excel D. Word, Access, OneNote, and PowerPoint Q2. Which of the following statements is true about Microsoft Access and Office Online? A. Access is not included in Office Online B. Access is included in Office Online with limited functionality C. Access can be accessed freely through Office.com D. Access is only available as a mobile app in Office Online Q3. How can only one person in a company pay for Access, but others use the database for free? A. Others install the free Access runtime edition B. Others share the same license C. Others use Office Online to open Access files D. Others use Google Sheets as an alternative Q4. What is the main restriction of the Access runtime edition? A. Users cannot make design changes to the database B. Users cannot enter or edit data C. Users cannot open Access databases at all D. Users can only use Access on weekends Q5. What should you select when signing up for a free trial to make sure Access is included? A. Business Edition of Office B. Home Edition of Office C. Educational Edition of Office D. Online Edition of Office Q6. According to the video, what is an important warning about purchasing Microsoft Access or Office online? A. Beware of scammers selling illegitimate copies B. It is always cheapest to buy from any website C. OEM copies are the best choice for businesses D. You can always safely use any student edition in your company Q7. What should you do after building your Access database for multiple users? A. Split the database and install runtime on each user's computer B. Email the whole database to each user C. Upload the database to Office Online D. Use Access only on the developer's computer Q8. Why is using educational versions of Office not allowed in corporations? A. They are not licensed for corporate use B. They contain limited features C. They are free for everyone D. They expire after one month Q9. What is mentioned as a reasonable monthly price for Access as of November 2020? A. $12.95 per month B. $5.00 per month C. $25.99 per month D. $50.00 per month Q10. What does the instructor recommend regarding Access alternatives? A. Stick with Access as it is the best desktop database application B. Always use an alternative because they are cheaper C. Replace Access with Word for databases D. Alternatives offer more features than Access Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A 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. SummaryToday's video from Access Learning Zone focuses on a commonly asked question: is it possible to get Microsoft Access for free?Janine, one of my Silver Members, had an important question. She works in an office with nine people, all of whom need to use her Access database. She was concerned about the cost of buying Office licenses for everyone, especially since her team currently uses the free Office Online versions of Word and Excel. She wanted to know if Microsoft offers a free version of Access as they do for those programs. Let me explain the situation. Microsoft does provide Office Online, which gives you free access to web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. All you need is a free Microsoft account at Office.com. These online versions are very similar to their desktop counterparts and offer most features that people regularly use. Unfortunately, Microsoft Access is not included in the list of online apps. There is no free web-based Access, and you cannot simply run your Access databases through Office Online. However, there is a solution that lets you minimize your costs. Only one person in your company needs a paid version of Microsoft Access. Everyone else can access and use the database for free by installing something called the Access Runtime. First, if you do not already own a copy of Access, Microsoft offers a free one-month trial. Just remember to select the Business Edition because home versions do not include Access. After the trial, the subscription costs $12.95 per month per user as of the date I am recording this, which is November 2020. Prices may change over time, but this gives you a good idea. You can sometimes find better discounts if you choose to pay for a year up front or if you buy from authorized resellers like Amazon. I am always searching for deals to share with my customers. Once you have the full version of Microsoft Access on your computer, that is all you need to design and manage the database. Only users who actually create, modify, or make design changes in Access have to pay for the full version. Everyone else just needs the free Access Runtime, which is available directly from Microsoft. The Runtime lets users enter and edit data, but does not allow them to make design changes, which is actually preferable for most employees. This way, you do not have to worry about accidental edits or changes to your database structure. Here is how the whole process works. You install Access on your machine and build your database. Then you split the database, a process I have detailed in separate videos that you can find linked below. The back-end – which holds the tables – goes on your server. Then, you install the Access Runtime on your coworkers' computers and connect them to the back-end database. That way, the rest of your team can use the database for free. A word of caution. There are many online sellers offering what seem like cheap, legitimate licenses for Access or Office. These are often not genuine retail copies – they might be unauthorized OEM or educational versions. If you are running a business, you cannot use the educational versions, and doing so could get you into trouble with Microsoft. Sometimes these offers are scams or use hacked versions, so always purchase your software from reputable sources or Microsoft directly. It is also possible to find older versions of Office on big shopping sites. The main features within Access have remained consistent since about 2007, which means that even the older versions do the job well in a professional environment. In corporate use, $12.95 a month for Access is very reasonable, considering only one person needs to pay for it. There are some competing products that claim to match what Microsoft Access does. In my experience, Access is still the best choice for a desktop database application. There really is no competition in this space. Although I do keep a list of alternatives and am working on reviews of some options, my advice is to stick with Access. To sum up, you can try Microsoft Access for free for a month, and after that, you only need one paid license even if you have multiple users. The rest of your team can use the full capabilities of your database via the free Runtime edition, without any cost to your business. If you want to learn all the steps I mentioned here, including splitting the database and installing the Runtime, you can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends. Topic ListOffice Online free apps overviewLimitations of Office Online regarding Access Obtaining a free trial of Microsoft Access Choosing the correct Office edition for Access Pricing options for Microsoft Access Purchasing Office or Access from legitimate sources Installing and using Access Runtime edition Who needs full Access vs. runtime version Database deployment using Access Runtime Splitting the Access database for multi-user setup Connecting users to a shared Access database Risks of buying from unauthorized software sellers Choosing the appropriate Access license for businesses Consideration of Access alternatives and their drawbacks Viability of using older versions of Microsoft Access |
||||
|
| |||
| Keywords: TechHelp Access ms access free, microsoft access for free, can I get access for free, free download, can you get microsoft access for free, can you get microsoft access for free PermaLink Access for Free in Microsoft Access |
