Access MDB files

Which conversion do you need?

• MDB to Excel to look through the data, sort it and share it: one sheet per table, with real dates.
• MDB to CSV to load the data somewhere else, or when the database is very large: one CSV per table, in a single ZIP.
• Have an .accdb file from Access 2007 or later? It works here too, or see ACCDB files.

What an MDB file is

MDB is the file format of Microsoft Access from its first release in 1992 up to Access 2003. One .mdb file holds a whole database: the tables with your data, and everything built on them, from queries and forms to reports, macros and code modules.

The engine inside is called Jet, and for years it came with Windows itself. That's why .mdb files turn up from programs that never mention Access: many small accounting and stock tools, and plenty of in-house apps written in Visual Basic, kept their data this way.

Versions

Access 95 and 97 wrote Jet 3 files. Access 2000, 2002 and 2003 moved to Jet 4, which stores text as Unicode, so names in any alphabet survive. Access 2007 made .accdb the default, yet current Access still saves an .mdb in the 2002–2003 format. Access 97 files are a different story: Access 2013 and later won't open them, which is one reason old .mdb files get stuck.

We test .mdb files from Access 97, 2000 and 2003: 2 Jet 3 and 9 Jet 4 files among our28 test databases, each converted to Excel and to CSV. Files from Access 95 and earlier aren't among them.

We export every table you created, with its column names and values. Access's own system tables and temporary tables are left out, and so are the parts of a database that aren't data: queries, relationships, forms, reports, macros and modules. Each converter page lists what carries over and what doesn't.

An .mdb from Access 2000 or later can grow to 2 GB; Access 97 stopped at 1 GB. This site converts files up to 1 GB, so a database near the larger limit needs compacting or splitting in Access first.

Passwords

Our test databases include 2 from Access 2000 to 2003 (Jet 4) with a database password set, and each of them opens here without it. We haven't tested an Access 97 file with a password. Encrypted .accdb files from Access 2007 and later work differently; the ACCDB page explains how. The file is read inside this browser tab; no server sees your data.

Files you'll find next to an .mdb

• .ldb: a lock file Access creates while the database is open, noting who has it open. It holds no data and goes away when the last person closes the database.
• .mdw: a workgroup file, which Access 97 to 2003 used for user accounts and permissions. No table data lives in it either.
• .mde: a copy of the database with its code compiled and locked, made for handing out an app. This page takes .mdb files, so ask for the original.
• A pair like Orders.mdb and Orders_be.mdb: a split database. The front end holds the forms and reports and links to the tables in the back end, often kept on a shared drive. Linked tables aren't exported, so convert the back end.

Want to see a result before using your own file? Download the Access 97 sample (116 KB) and drop it above.