Import Excel File into Access

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff Ray
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff Ray

Sir/Madam,

I'm new to using Access. I created a table and then
tried to import data into it using File>Get External Data
Import. All worked well with the wizard until I got to
Click to expand...
a screen that said either import data to a new table or
to an existing table. However, the selection
for "existing table was grayed out. Why? How do you get
data into an existing table?

It is very frustrating to have exactly what I want in
front of me but Access will not allow me to choose the
option I want.

Any help or advice appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
 
Just import into a *new* table, then append the records in the new table to your
existing table. I'm not sure why the "existing table" option was grayed out - I
don't do many imports of anything other than delimited text or other database
formats and I haven't noticed whether that option has been unavailable under
those conditions.
 
like bruce, i don't often import from Excel, preferring
text files. but if you select "First Row Contains Column
Headings", the Existing table option should become
available. from past unpleasant experience, i can tell you
that you'll run into problems associated with "column
headings" - but you can work it out if you fiddle with it
long enough.
what i've done in the past is create a new table from the
Excel file (i call it TEMP) that matches the Excel column
headers, etc. then create an append query to dump that
data into your "real" table. that's the only way i've
found to automate an Excel file import - as opposed to
manually importing to a "new" table each time and then
appending to my data table.
good luck!
 
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