How to change the Field size in Microsoft Access

In Microsoft Access, you can adjust the amount of space of each record in an Access table by changing the Field size property of number fields and text fields in the table. Most field size changes can be made in either Datasheet view or Design view, but to change the changing number fields such as Bonus Rate field can only be adjusted in the Design View because the values in the Bonus Rate field have decimal places, such as Only Single, Double or Decimal.

What happens when I change the Field size?

In Access, you can change the field size that is empty or already has data.

• If the field size does not contain data: When you change field size, the value of the new data values is limited for the field. For number fields, the field size determines how much disk space Access uses for each value of the field, and for the text fields, the size determines the maximum amount of disk space that Access allows for each value of the field.
• If the fields contain data: When the field size is changed, Access truncates all field size that exceeds the specified field size and limits the value of the size of the new data values for the field.

How to change the Field size in Access

To increase, decrease or modify the Field size in Microsoft Access, follow this procedure:

Change the Field size of a Number field

Launch Microsoft Access.

On the navigation pane on the left, click the table that contains the field size you want to change.

Then click View on the Home tab and select Design view.

In the table design grid,  select the field for which you want to change the field size.

On the Field properties pane, input the new field size in the Field Size area on the General tab.

Depending on the fields you choose on the table design grid, the Field Size property will display values in the field size menu; for instance, if we click the Telephone number field with the Number data type and then click Field Size area on the Field Size properties pane on the General tab.

You will see an arrow; by clicking the arrow, it will display a drop-down menu with values that you can choose from, such as Byte, Integer, Long Integer, Single, Double, Replication ID, and Decimal.

Change the Field size of a Text field

On the navigation pane on the left, click the table that contains the field size you want to change.

Then click the Design view.

In the table design grid,  select the field for which you want to change the field size.

On the Field properties pane, enter the new field size in the Field Size area on the General tab. You can enter a value from 1 to 255, which specifies the maximum number of characters each value can have.

We hope this tutorial helps you understand how to change the field size in Microsoft Access or Access 365; if you have questions about the tutorial, let us know in the comments.