Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows
A family of Microsoft relational database management systems designed for ease of use.
Access 2013 - Dbase (.dbf) Table Import option
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anonymous
I need to be able to import read/write Dbase dbf tables - yes they are still around so why has the standard option that was in Access 2010 gone?
I have seen mention of ISAM, which is gobbledegook to me. So please a simple answer - what do I need to install or change and how do I do it?
Microsoft 365 and Office | Access | For home | Windows
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(89.60000000000001, 51%, 18%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ES%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
158 additional answers
Sort by: Newest
-
George Hepworth 23,120 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator2015-01-19T19:05:12+00:00 Please read the entire thread to get a better understanding of "what happened".
Microsoft made the decision to drop support for linking to .dbf files in Access 2013. I am not privy to the discussions that preceded this decision. The only public comment from Microsoft that I am aware of has been to the effect that it was used by a relatively small number of users. If you happen to be one of those users who needed it, you are greatly inconvenienced. If not, it's sort of a non-issue.
If you read the whole thread, you'll find at least a couple of work-arounds that are perfectly viable, if not convenient.
I suggest that everyone who feels this deprecation is a serious problem should direct your complaints directly to Microsoft. (And no, I'll leave it to you to find a contact point. ) Perhaps hearing from a large number disaffected users will move them.
-
Anonymous
2015-01-16T23:21:47+00:00 I really need the option to import and link .dbf files to Access. Why does this not work anymore? Is it so difficult? Does it hurt? What happened? This is essential for some businesses.
-
Anonymous
2014-10-14T16:30:18+00:00 Microsoft, where is the dbf import option in Access 2013???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I need it now, my project is overdue and I am really really **** off.
2013 does not support dBase imports. The many posts in this thread show workarounds. I like the one that suggested opening the file in Excel and then saving it as an excel sheet.
-
Anonymous
2014-10-14T14:14:19+00:00 Microsoft, where is the dbf import option in Access 2013???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I need it now, my project is overdue and I am really really **** off.