Access to SQL Server Converter

Tables, keys, and rows from an .accdb or .mdb file into SQL Server - once, or on a schedule while Access stays in use.

Version: 5.3.0
Release Date: Oct. 22, 2026
Size: 22.5 MB
Platform: Windows 10 or later

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Move an Access database into SQL Server without rebuilding the tables by hand. DBConvert creates the selected tables, indexes, and foreign keys in SQL Server, maps every Access field type, and copies the rows straight from the .accdb or .mdb file.

Reads .accdb and .mdb files, including files protected by a database password.
Writes to SQL Server, SQL Server Express, Azure SQL Database, or Amazon RDS for SQL Server.
Runs on Windows as a desktop application.
The same download converts SQL Server back into Access.

Prepare the move before copying data

Connections, tables, and mappings have their own screens. Go back to any of them while you refine the job.

Pick the tables

Choose tables and add a per-table row filter when only part of the Access data belongs in SQL Server.

Review the mappings

Check and edit the SQL Server type of each column before the first load. Anything the target cannot hold as it is gets named in the log.

Keep the setup

Save the connections and keep tables, mappings, and options together in a job. Rerun it for the next test load instead of configuring the pair again.

Convert once, or keep Access in use during the cutover

Both modes are part of the same DBConvert application.

One-time conversion

Create the SQL Server tables and load the rows. Load a test database first, link the Access front end to it, and check the forms and reports before switching users over.

Scheduled synchronization

Keep people working in the Access file while SQL Server is tested. A synchronization job carries inserts, updates, and deletes across, matching rows by primary key. A second job runs the other direction. See how synchronization works.

When SQL Server is the right home for Access data

A shared backend for the Access front end

More users or more data than one shared file handles well. The forms stay in Access and the tables move to a server.

Reporting and new applications

Put the data where reporting tools and a replacement application can reach it, on your own server, Azure SQL, or Amazon RDS.

What the Access side needs

The 64-bit Microsoft Access Database Engine on the same computer. It is a free Microsoft download; if it is missing, Connect says so and links to it.
A file in Access 2000 format or later. An Access 97 file has to be re-saved in a newer format in Access first.
A database password is supported. User-level workgroup security (.mdw files) is not.

How Access types map to SQL Server

The defaults below keep values exact. Override the target type per column where your application expects something else.

In Access	DBConvert default in SQL Server	What to know
AutoNumber	`int IDENTITY`	Existing key values arrive unchanged, so foreign keys still point at the right rows.
Currency, Decimal	`money`; Decimal keeps its precision and scale, `decimal(p,s)`.	Exact to the last digit, including the Currency maximum.
Date/Time	`datetime2(0)`	Dates before 1753, which the old `datetime` type refuses, arrive intact.
Short Text, Long Text (Memo)	`nvarchar(n)` and `nvarchar(max)`	Unicode text and long memos arrive whole.
Yes/No, Replication ID, Large Number	`bit`, `uniqueidentifier`, `bigint`	Direct equivalents.
OLE Object, Binary	`varbinary(max)` and `varbinary(n)`	Copied byte for byte.
Attachment, multi-value fields	`nvarchar(max)` holding the values as text	The attached file names arrive, not the files. Each such field is named in the log.
Default values	`Now()` becomes `getdate()`, `Date()` today's date, `GenGUID()` `newid()`; numbers and text are kept.	A default that is an expression is dropped.

Queries, forms, and VBA stay in Access

The migration covers tables, their columns, indexes, and foreign keys. Saved queries are not turned into SQL Server views, and forms, reports, macros, and VBA are part of the Access front end, not the data. Rebuild the queries the front end needs as views after the move.

Supported versions and services

Access

MS Access .accdb, and .mdb in Access 2000 format or later
Database password; the 64-bit Microsoft Access Database Engine is required

SQL Server

SQL Server 2008-2022, including Express editions
Azure SQL Database and Amazon RDS for SQL Server
SQL Server schemas (dbo, custom schemas)
Windows authentication or SQL authentication

DBConvert Studio

30+ databases · cloud · scheduled sync

Need more database pairs? One tool covers 30+ databases.

How to migrate Access to SQL Server

Setup: connect Access and SQL Server

Pick Convert or Sync, then choose the source and destination connections side by side on one screen. A connection is saved once and reused by every job.

The Setup step in DBConvert: the mode, the source and destination connections side by side, and the job name

Access source

Select the source .accdb or .mdb file and enter its database password if it has one. The 64-bit Microsoft Access Database Engine must be installed.

Look inside the Access file first

To see what an .mdb or .accdb file holds before converting it, open it in the free MDB and ACCDB Viewer: tables with their Access types, relationships as an ER diagram, saved queries and read-only SQL, in the browser, with no upload and no Access installed.

Open the MDB viewer · VS Code extension

SQL Server target

Connect by TCP/IP or Named Pipes, use Azure SQL, or configure Amazon RDS for SQL Server.

Steps 2-4: the same for every database pair

Open the full guide

See all features

More guides for Access ↔ SQL Server

Move Access data into SQL Server

Download the current build and run the first job against your own database.

Download DBConvert 5.3.0 Order from US$ 199

Windows 10 or later · 22.5 MB