I wasn't aware that Microsoft tied online Help to the "All connected experiences" setting, so I looked into it. Microsoft considers Help an experience that "downloads online content." That's technically separate from experiences that "analyze your content," such as Designer, Dictate, and Translator. Unfortunately, the "All connected experiences" checkbox is the master switch, so you can't enable online Help unless that switch is also enabled.

That doesn't appear to mean that opening Help allows Microsoft to examine the contents of your database. It enables the group of online services that includes Help, although I agree that Microsoft has bundled these settings together in a rather clumsy way. I also couldn't find a downloadable offline Help package for Access 2021.

Honestly, I almost never use Access's built-in Help anymore. I usually search Google, ask ChatGPT, or search my own website. Microsoft's support site search isn't particularly good with object-model syntax such as "TextBox.Format.Property." Searching for something more general, such as "Microsoft Access text box Format property," usually works better.

If you're looking for an overview of what the Format property does, start here:

Format Property and Function
https://599cd.com/Format

This explains the difference between the Format property and Format function and includes examples for text, numbers, currency, dates, and Yes/No values.

I also have these related lessons:

Text Box Hints Using the Format Property
https://599cd.com/blog/display-article.asp?ID=3201

Custom Number and Currency Formats
https://599cd.com/FormatCurrency

Leading Zeros
https://599cd.com/blog/display-article.asp?ID=2753

Military Time Formatting
https://599cd.com/blog/display-article.asp?ID=2304

Hide Decimal Places Without Rounding
https://599cd.com/blog/display-article.asp?ID=5637

For a structured class lesson, see Access Beginner 3, Lesson 3, "Number & Date Formats." It covers the Format and Decimal Places properties for numbers, currency, dates, text, and Yes/No fields:

https://599cd.com/ACB3

If you were looking for a particular result rather than a general explanation of the Format property, let me know what you want the text box to display and I'll point you in the right direction.

Thanks for your detailed response, much appreciated.

I'm currently going through Beginner Level 3, and am trying to duplicate what you're doing in the video.

In the 4th video (Field Properties 3 - Format, Decimal Places), at ~11:40, when Help (once again) failed to launch on my end when I hit F1, I stopped watching and looked into how to make Help work.

I much prefer searching a topic-specific technical reference for detailed info on (say) a parameter. A keyword search on a specific tech reference is sooo much faster and to-the-point than more generalized searches.

Do you happen to know whether keyword search capability is still present when Help is enabled in Access 2021?

Richard Do you happen to know whether keyword search capability is present when Help is enabled in Access 2021? (Apologies in advance for the repeat if you did actually see my query; I didn't hit the @Reply when I posted it.)

I honestly never use F1, so I'm not 100% certain on this, but I'm pretty sure that when Help is enabled in Access 2021, F1 opens the modern online Help pane, which does have a search box. However, it is not the old-style, locally installed Help system with a proper keyword index, Contents, and Index tabs that we used to have. It searches Microsoft's online documentation.

So the short answer is: I think that yes, there is a search capability, but no, it is not the kind of fast, precise technical-reference keyword search you're looking for. Searching for exact object-model terms such as "TextBox.Format Property" can still produce poor results, because it is essentially searching Microsoft's web content rather than a dedicated local Access reference.

I don't believe there's a downloadable offline Access 2021 Help package with the old indexed keyword-search functionality. Microsoft's Help system has been online-based for quite a while now, and the same current documentation is generally used by both Microsoft 365 and the perpetual Office versions.

For following along with the class, you can certainly enable Help just long enough to see what it gives you. But for looking up specific properties, methods, arguments, and constants, I agree with you completely: a real technical reference with an index is much better. Unfortunately, Microsoft has made that experience worse, not better.

I love Microsoft and I love their products, but honestly, their documentation and help systems leave much to be desired. For me, that's actually a good thing because it keeps me in business, lol.

Richard LOL :-p
Seriously though, I'd be here anyway. It's always faster to have someone to guide you through terra incognita, in addition to having a good map.