I would not do it. Why do you have to do it this way? It's just as easy to do it the right way unless you have some weird situation that is easier to do it wrong then set something up that works. Watch Images about how to do it right.

Edit: Here's a quick example from ChatGPT, but I would not go down this route it's going to cause issues..

Private Sub Form_BeforeUpdate(Cancel As Integer)
    Dim attachmentCount As Integer
    Dim rs As DAO.Recordset
    Dim attachmentField As DAO.Field

    ' Check if the attachment field has data
    Set rs = Me.RecordsetClone
    rs.FindFirst "[ID] = " & Me![ID] ' Use the appropriate primary key field here
    
    ' Ensure the record is found
    If Not rs.NoMatch Then
        Set attachmentField = rs![YourAttachmentField] ' Replace YourAttachmentField with your actual field name

        ' Count the attachments
        attachmentCount = attachmentField.Value.RecordCount

        ' Limit to 2 attachments
        If attachmentCount >= 2 Then
            MsgBox "You can only add up to 2 attachments.", vbExclamation
            Cancel = True ' Prevent the update if more than 2 attachments
        End If
    End If
End Sub

i appeciate that.  but im looking for some code that successfully accomplishes the goal requested.  thank you for any help. jm

I edited my post with a code example. Why do you need to do it like that?

thank you for that code.  will that work with the built in Windows file chooser Dialog Box that is part of the Attachment Field Type in Access?    I do appreciate what you're saying.  I was hoping to test to see how many users would use this feature and what types and how many files they might try to attach.   Thanks again!
jm

I think John what the guys are trying to say is "Attachment fields are bad Mmkay?"  Don't use them.  It will just bloat your database and lead to corruption.    Do take a look at https://599cd.com/1616 which is the same images lesson that was mentioned above.  Now attachment sizes will be far less of a problem limited only by disk space.

I don't see a way to limit the number bytes the file can take.   But if you're not storing them in access, but rather linking them to a directory it will only matter if you're making a four hour feature film.

I agree now!  Thanks to everyone!   This case is closed!   Enjoy!