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Maximize Application Window By Richard Rost 
6 years ago
Maximize the Microsoft Access Application Window on Startup Have you ever wanted Microsoft Access to automatically Maximize itself when it opened? This is especially helpful if you've got large forms that display on startup. In this video I'll show you how to do just that. I'll also show you how to force other databases to Restore to a normal window if the previous database opened Maximized. Michael (a Gold Member) asks, "I work between a couple of different database files. Whenever I open them they take the shape of the last Access database I had opened. I’ve got a couple with really big Main Menu forms and they get squished. So now I have to close the form and reopen it, or manually adjust the size. Is there a way I can just make Access maximize itself when it opens? I don’t want them ALL maximized, just a few." MembersI'll show you how to Minimize and Restore both the Ribbon and the Navigation Pane as well. Silver Members and up get access to view Extended Cut videos, when available. Gold Members can download the files from class plus get access to the Code Vault. If you're not a member, Join Today! Links
IntroIn this video, I will show you how to maximize the Microsoft Access application window automatically when opening specific databases by adding a simple line of VBA code to your startup form. We will talk about the issue of Access remembering window sizes between databases, how to apply a command to maximize or restore the application window as needed, and how to customize startup behavior for different databases.TranscriptWelcome to another TechHelp video brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.In today's video, I am going to show you how to maximize Access - how to maximize the Access application window on startup. Today's question comes from Michael. He is a Gold Member. Of course, Gold Member questions go first. Michael asks: I work between a couple of different database files. Whenever I open them, they take the shape of the last Access database I had opened. I have got a couple with really big main menu forms and they get squished. So now I have to close the form and reopen it or manually adjust the size. Is there a way I can just make Access maximize itself when it opens? I do not want them all maximized, just a few. Well Michael, we are in luck. We can do this with just one line of code. I will show you. Here is the problem that Michael is experiencing. If you open up a database, then Access will remember the shape of the application window. So if I resize this guy like that and then close it, the next time I open it, Access will open it in that shape. Even if you have another database that you are working with, it will still open Access in that shape. This is the copy of the same database, but you see what I am talking about. Any database you open will be in that same shape. So let us take this database file and, let us say, let me resize this here so it is bigger. Let us say that this main menu is huge. Let us say it is this big. Alright, let us make it look like this. We will put a button over here and just so we can differentiate it, let us change the color. I want to make it gray. That is the main menu form in this database. Now if I close this guy and I open up Database 2, this guy, let us say, is a small one and I work with it over in the corner. I personally also have several databases that I flip back and forth between and not just because I am training. Now I close this database and then I go back to this one. Well now look, this big gigantic menu is now misshapen and I have got to either manually resize it or it will resize itself sometimes and you cannot see all your buttons and stuff. So it is just a pain. So it would be nice to tell this database to maximize Access when it opens. Yeah, you could maximize the individual forms inside of Access but that still does not help me much and I like to use the individual windows myself. I do not like maximized forms. I do not like the tabbed interface that they give you by default. I like to switch to overlapping windows. That is something I cover in my Access Beginner Level 1 class. It is free by the way. Watch that. Lots of good tips on how I like to format my initial databases. Now to fix this problem and to have Access maximize the application window, it will require one line of code. So go into your main menu, whatever your startup menu is. Design view. Open up the properties for this form. Go to Events and find the On Open event. This event fires once when the form opens. Go to the dot dot dot button. You might be asked what kind of builder you want. Pick Code Builder. I have that option turned off. You will be in the Form Open subroutine. Now come in here and type in DoCmd. DoCmd.RunCommand. You can just pick it from the list there by hitting the space bar. The command you want is acCmdAppMaximize right there. That is it. One line of code. That will maximize Access, the whole application, when this form loads. Now I am going to close this. I am going to close the database because that is my startup form. I am going to open this little guy and then reshape you like that where it is where you belong. Close it. If you want to open this one up, it should fill that little spot. Double click. You can see the Access window maximize itself. It is taking up the whole screen, which is actually larger than the video recording window. I am only recording at 720p and my desktop monitor is a lot larger than that, but you can see it maximized the entire window. Now let us go ahead and close this guy and let us open up this original customer list. You can see that one maximized too. There it is over there. If you want to restore this down to a normal size window, hit that button there and that will bring it back to its normal size. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have this window do that automatically? Sure you can - the same way we just maximized the other one, with a slightly different command. All right, let's set the size right above there. Design view, properties, On Open, dot dot dot, Code Builder. Very similar command: DoCmd.RunCommand space acCmdAppRestore just like that. Save it, close it, save changes - yes. If I open this one up, it gets maximized. Let me close it. If I open up this one, it opens up maximized immediately because the last window was maximized, but then it restores itself. Close it, try it again - same, opens restored. This guy takes a second sometimes. I have noticed if you close Access and then immediately reopen it again, it takes a minute. Now this window here sometimes isn't saving its space - saving its dimensions. So you sometimes have to manually resize it and then hit save, close it, or you open it again. Yep, okay, there it goes. Sometimes if you do this with a window and hit save, it will reopen in that same, not always, but sometimes it will keep those dimensions. I have got videos on how to manually resize individual windows inside of Access too, that is a whole separate lesson. Now if I close this window and then I open up this one, there it goes. It opens up as a normal size window. I do not know if you could see it in the video or not if my frame rate is high enough, but it opens up maximized because the last window was maximized and then it restores down. In the Members Only Extended Cut version, I will show you also how to minimize and restore the ribbon as well as the navigation pane. You may have smaller databases that you want to keep in small windows on your screen and you might want the ribbon and the navigation pane to be small. Whereas you may have larger windows that you use those commands all the time and you want to have them open up whenever you open the database. There is small and big. Here is a maximized one where these are larger. Then I open up my other database and I want those things to be small because I want the window to be smaller or I do not use these functions maybe as much. That is the Members Only Extended Cut. Now how do you become a member? Well, you go to my YouTube channel, you click on the Join button or you look for the link in the description below the video. You get access to my Extended Cut TechHelp videos, lots of them. I think this is my tenth now, but I have only been doing this for about two weeks, so I am adding three or four new ones a week. I try to do one every day, but you also get access to live video and chat sessions. Try saying that 10 times fast: chat sessions, chat sessions. I cannot do it. And other perks too. On the Join screen you will see all the different levels of sponsorship. But do not worry, these TechHelp videos are going to keep coming for free. I am going to keep showing you lots of tips without charging anything. Make sure you subscribe to my channel - that is absolutely free - that just gives you notifications whenever I release a new video. Make sure you click the little bell or ring the bell and you will get email notifications as well. So make sure to stop by my website. I have got a pretty active Access forum. If you have not yet taken my Access Level 1 class for beginners, go ahead and do that right now, there is a link below. It is a free three-hour long tutorial. You will find it either on my website or on YouTube. If you like Level 1, then Level 2 is just one dollar and that is another full hour-long course. If you want to submit your questions to me to be answered possibly in a video like this, there is the TechHelp page where you can submit them. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and my blog. Feel free to stop by my website and let me know what you thought of this video or feel free to post your comments below. Thanks, I hope you learned something and we will see you next time. QuizQ1. What issue was Michael experiencing with his Access databases?A. The application window size was inconsistent between different databases. B. His forms were not displaying any data. C. The Access application was crashing upon startup. D. He could not open more than one database at a time. Q2. What causes Access databases to open with the last used window size? A. Access remembers the shape of the last open application window. B. There is an Access bug causing random window sizes. C. Each form dictates its own window size regardless of settings. D. Users cannot control window size in Access at all. Q3. What is the effect of maximizing only the form inside Access as opposed to maximizing the Access application window? A. Only the form fills the window, but Access itself may still be a small window. B. The application window maximizes automatically. C. All forms are minimized. D. It switches to the tabbed view automatically. Q4. What user interface setting did Richard mention that he prefers in Access? A. Overlapping windows B. Tabbed interface (default) C. Fullscreen kiosk mode D. Single document interface Q5. Which event should the code to maximize Access be put in for the form? A. On Open B. On Close C. On Resize D. On Load Q6. What one line of code is used to maximize the Access application window? A. DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdAppMaximize B. DoCmd.OpenForm acFormMaximized C. DoCmd.MaximizeWindow D. App.Maximize Q7. What is the command to restore the Access application window to normal size? A. DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdAppRestore B. DoCmd.RestoreForm acAppRestore C. DoCmd.WindowRestore D. DoCmd.AppNormal Q8. How does Access behave when you reopen a database after maximizing or resizing the window? A. It usually opens in the same size and position as last closed. B. It always opens maximized regardless of last size. C. It always opens unmaximized. D. It resets to the original install size every time. Q9. If the window dimensions are not saved as expected, what trick did Richard mention? A. Manually resize the window, then hit Save and close the form. B. Restart the computer. C. Use the Compact and Repair function. D. Uninstall and reinstall Access. Q10. What additional features did Richard mention would be included in the Members Only Extended Cut? A. How to minimize and restore the ribbon and navigation pane. B. Printing database forms. C. Importing data from Excel. D. Changing the Access splash screen. Q11. How can you become a member to access extended videos? A. Click the Join button on YouTube or the link in the description. B. Buy a standalone DVD. C. Send an email requesting membership. D. Subscribe to a newsletter. Q12. Where can you take the free Access Level 1 course recommended by Richard? A. On his website or on YouTube. B. Only at a local college. C. By invitation only. D. Through Microsoft Office support. Answers: 1-A; 2-A; 3-A; 4-A; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-A; 9-A; 10-A; 11-A; 12-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 how to maximize the Access application window upon startup. I am Richard Rost, your instructor.This topic comes from a question sent in by Michael, who works with several different Access database files. He finds that when he switches between databases, Access remembers the size and position of the last window he used. This creates a problem, especially for databases with large main menu forms, as these end up being squished if the last database he used was smaller. To fix the problem, he has to manually resize the form or close and reopen it. Michael wants to know if there is a way for just a few of his databases to automatically maximize the Access window when he opens them, rather than all of them. The good news is that this can be accomplished with a single line of VBA code. To show what happens, let me describe the issue: when you open a database, Access recalls the previous size and position of its application window. If you adjust the window and close Access, the next database you open will inherit those dimensions. So, if you work with multiple databases that need different window sizes, this can quickly become a headache. For example, if you have a main menu form that is particularly large in one database, and a smaller one in another, toggling between them will cause the larger menu to be squeezed into a smaller space, making it difficult to see all your buttons and controls. It can get frustrating to continually adjust the window size. To address this, you can instruct Access to maximize its application window only when a specific database opens. While you can maximize each form individually, doing so might not fit everyone's workflow. Personally, I prefer using overlapping windows rather than the default tabbed interface in Access. I talk more about this in my Access Beginner Level 1 course, which is a free resource packed with helpful pointers for setting up your databases from scratch. Now to the solution: to get Access to maximize the application window when you open a specific database, you need to add a single line of code to your startup form. First, open your main or startup form in Design View and open the property sheet. Go to the Events tab and find the On Open event. Start the code builder for this event, and once inside the subroutine, simply enter the command for maximizing the application window. Saving and closing the form ensures that each time you open this database, Access maximizes itself automatically. This way, your forms display at their intended size. Testing this out, if you close all databases and then reopen the one you just modified, you'll notice the Access window immediately fills the screen, showing your full menu as intended. On the other hand, you might want to have some databases restore to their previous window size rather than maximizing every time. For these situations, follow the same process but use a command to restore the application window instead. Now when you open these databases, Access will return them to their standard window size, regardless of what was used previously. Sometimes Access does not immediately retain the window dimensions, so you may have to adjust and save the form a few times before it sticks. I also have additional videos covering how to resize individual windows inside Access, which is a related but separate topic. If you use this method, switching between databases will give you the exact window behavior you prefer. You will no longer be annoyed by forms that are squished or out of place. For those interested in further options, in the Members Only Extended Cut of today's lesson, I go over additional commands to minimize and restore both the ribbon and the navigation pane. This comes in handy if you want a compact window layout for smaller databases or perhaps want a larger, fully featured window for more expansive databases. Extended Cut members will get details on making those adjustments so that the ribbon and navigation pane change with your application window settings. If you would like to become a member and access the Extended Cut videos, visit my YouTube channel, click Join, or look for the link below the video. Membership also comes with live video and chat sessions and other exclusive perks. Remember, the regular TechHelp videos will always be free, and if you subscribe to my channel, you'll get alerts whenever new content is posted. Make sure to check out my forum if you need further help, or start with my free Access Level 1 class if you are new to Access. It's a three-hour tutorial, and if you enjoy it, Level 2 is just one dollar for another hour of instruction. If you have your own questions you'd like answered, you can submit them through the TechHelp page on my site. You'll also find me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and my blog. 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 ListDemonstrating Access application window resizing issueSetting up forms with different window sizes Accessing the Form On Open event in Design View Adding VBA code to maximize Access on form open Using DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdAppMaximize Testing application window maximizing on startup Restoring Access to normal size with VBA code Using DoCmd.RunCommand acCmdAppRestore Saving and testing window size changes in forms |
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| Keywords: TechHelp Access maximize application window maximize navigation pane maximize ribbon restore ribbon restore navigation page restore access PermaLink Maximize Application Window in Microsoft Access |
