Installing Microsoft Access On Mac

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Boot Camp requires a Mac with an Intel processor.

When you install Microsoft Windows on your Mac, Boot Camp Assistant automatically opens the Boot Camp installer, which installs the latest Windows support software (drivers). If that doesn't happen, or you experience any of the following issues while using Windows on your Mac, follow the steps in this article.

  • Your Apple mouse, trackpad, or keyboard isn't working in Windows.
    Force Touch isn't designed to work in Windows.
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  • One or more screen resolutions are unavailable for your display in Windows.
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  • You get a message that your PC has a driver or service that isn't ready for this version of Windows.
  • Your Mac starts up to a black or blue screen after you install Windows.
  • Feb 12, 2021 Use the following commands to install the Microsoft ODBC driver 13.1 for SQL Server on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and macOS 10.12 (Sierra).
  • Additionally, I plan to do multi-platform software testing for work and found that Microsoft Access runs through Parallels exactly as if I were running it on a PC.” Nevertheless, Parallels Desktop is an easy and cost-effective solution to run Microsoft Access on your Mac.

If your Mac has an AMD video card and is having graphics issues in Windows, you might need to update your AMD graphics drivers instead.

Install the latest macOS updates

Before proceeding, install the latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp.

Format a USB flash drive

Publisher, Access, Visio, OneNote, FrontPage and Groove do not exist for the Mac. There are Mac programs that will let you do the same things, and in some cases, they can import your Microsoft files. Another option is to run 'Office for Windows' programs in Parallels/VMware the Mac. Start quickly with the most recent versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive —combining the familiarity of Office and the unique Mac features you love. Be more productive Find the feature you need fast and create documents more easily with built-in automated design and research tools. The only way to use Access on a Mac is to install Windows and the Windows version of Office. I'm using Parallels Desktop on my MBA with Win10 and Office 365. Access runs acceptably fast in this configuration for small databases so for learning purposes that should be acceptable for you.

To install the latest Windows support software, you need a 16GB or larger USB flash drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).

  1. Start your Mac from macOS.
  2. Plug the USB flash drive into your Mac.
  3. Open Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  4. Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar.
  5. From the sidebar in Disk Utility, select your USB flash drive. (Select the drive name, not the volume name beneath it.)
  6. Click the Erase button or tab.
  7. Choose MS-DOS (FAT) as the format and Master Boot Record as the scheme.
  8. Click Erase to format the drive. When done, quit Disk Utility.

Can You Get Microsoft Access For Mac

Download the Windows support software

After preparing your USB flash drive, complete these steps:

  1. Make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
  2. Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
  3. From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Action > Download Windows Support Software, then choose your USB flash drive as the save destination. When the download completes, quit Boot Camp Assistant.

Learn what to do if you can't download or save the Windows support software.

Install the Windows support software

After downloading the Windows support software to your flash drive, follow these steps to install the software. (If you're attempting to resolve issues with a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, it might be easier to use a USB mouse or keyboard until these steps are complete.)

  1. Make sure that the USB flash drive is plugged into your Mac.
  2. Start up your Mac in Windows.
  3. From File Explorer, open the USB flash drive, then open Setup or setup.exe, which is in the WindowsSupport folder or BootCamp folder. When you're asked to allow Boot Camp to make changes to your device, click Yes.
  4. Click Repair to begin installation. If you get an alert that the software hasn't passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
  5. After installation completes, click Finish, then click Yes when you're asked to restart your Mac.

Learn more

If you can't download or save the Windows support software:

  • If the assistant says that the Windows support software could not be saved to the selected drive, or that the USB flash drive can't be used, make sure that your USB flash drive has a storage capacity of at least 16GB and is formatted correctly.
  • If the assistant doesn't see your USB flash drive, click Go Back and make sure that the drive is connected directly to the USB port on your Mac—not to a display, hub, or keyboard. Disconnect and reconnect the drive, then click Continue.
  • If the assistant says that it can't download the software because of a network problem, make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
  • Make sure that your Mac meets the system requirements to install Windows using Boot Camp.

If a Mac feature still doesn't work after updating the Windows support software, search for your symptom on the Apple support website or Microsoft support website. Some features of your Mac aren't designed to work in Windows.

How Do I Download Microsoft Access For Mac

Since the MAC version of MS Office does not include MS Access (there is no MAC version of Access and never has been) , we often see questions similar to:

How can I run Microsoft Access on a MAC?”

in various forums. While it is true that you can’t get Access (and other programs) for MAC, there are still ways to run them on your MAC. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Possible Ways to Run MS Access on a MAC

Here are a couple solutions that I am aware of:

Virtualization Software

You can install any number of virtualization software programs, such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion or Oracle VirtualBox, to create a virtual machine in which you install Windows and then MS Office/Access and or any other Windows program(s) of your choosing. This does requires buying Parallels, and owing licenses for Windows and any other program you wish to install.

Once it is setup you can run launch your Windows Virtual Machine directly from within your MAC OS.

Bootcamp

Use Apple’s free Bootcamp software which will create a separate Windows formatted partition on the hard drive to install Windows and the appropriate drivers. It will run Windows as fast or faster than a PC of equivalent specification. The only downside (aside from the cost) is that you cannot run the Mac OS and the Windows OS simultaneously. Users who wanted to use Access would have to shut down the Mac OS and reboot into Windows.

So basically you split/partition your MAC hard drive to create a spot to install Windows. So your computer end up having both OSs installed and you pick which one to run at startup.

Remote Access Software

Another interesting option is to use remote access software, programs such as:

  • Microsoft’s Remote Desktop
  • TeamViewer
  • etc…

to connect to a another computer. The remote access software simply transmits the image of the other computer’s screen image directly back to your local PC. So, you are in fact working directly on the other computer.

So, if you already have access to a Windows PC or server, you can use remote access software to connect to it and run your database.

Installing Microsoft Access On Mac Desktop

CrossOver

Access

I recently came across a program called CrossOver which states:

Run Microsoft Windows software on your Mac without buying a Windows license, rebooting or using a virtual machine

I don’t know anything more about this product, but it sounds very interesting and may be worth further investigation. Furthermore, they offer a trial version so you can take it for a test drive.

Microsoft Query

If you simply need to access the data, but not interact with it (Add/Edit/Delete) and you have a copy of MS Office for MAC then you can use Microsoft Query to access the data via ODBC.