Create a Search-As-You-Type Box in MS Access

In this Microsoft Access tutorial I'm going to teach you how to create a search-as-you-type box for your Microsoft Access forms.

Benjamin from Euclid, Ohio (a Platinum Member) asks: Is there a way to create a search box in my customer list form that allows me to quickly find a customer by their first or last name? Ideally, I'd like to start typing the first few characters and have it immediately direct me to that customer, similar to how a Google search begins showing results before you've finished typing. Is such a feature possible in Access?

Members

Members will learn how to create a single text box to search on any field and have the results automatically update every time they press a key. Will make a button to clear the search box.

•  01. Free Video
•  02. Extended Cut Video - Silver Members
•  Database Download - Gold Members

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!

Space Problem

• See my notes on Access Developer 8 about the "spaces in your search text" issue. 

Prerequisites

• Find Record: https://599cd.com/FindRecord
• Aggregate Query: https://599cd.com/Aggregate
• Null: https://599cd.com/Null
• Double Double Quotes: https://599cd.com/DoubleDouble

Links

• SQL with Access: https://599cd.com/SQLwithAccess

Recommended Courses

• Access Search Seminar: https://599cd.com/SearchSeminar

Update

• If your combo box isn't automatically selecting a value after you type a few characters in, make sure the AutoExpand property is set to Yes. This is the default setting now, but in some older versions of Access it was No. You can set this to No if you want to use a combo box and have tons of records (or a slow network connection) and you want to speed up your box.

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