We use cookies on this website. By using this site, you agree that we may store and access cookies on your device Read More Got it!
Access Database 4 minute read

Compact and Repair Access Database Not Working – How to Fix

Jyoti Prakash
Written By
Jyoti Prakash
Kuljeet Singh
Approved By
Kuljeet Singh
stellar calander
Updated on
November 22nd, 2022

Summary: If an Access database file gets corrupt or damaged, MS Access has a built-in Compact and Repair utility to resolve such issues. However, sometimes, this utility fails to repair the MS Access database (.accdb) file due to various reasons. In this post, we’ve discussed an alternate solution to repair MS Access database when Compact and Repair does not work. 

Free Download for Windows

Contents

  • How to Repair MS Access Database when Compact and Repair Utility Fails?
  • Conclusion
Quick Solution: Try using Stellar Repair for Access software to repair corrupt Access database (.accdb/.mdb) files in a few clicks. The software is designed to help users perform the Access database repair process without technical support or monitoring.

Microsoft Access 2019, 2016, and lower versions till 2007 store database in the form of .accdb file. MS Access database file (.accdb) may get corrupted or damaged due to many reasons. Some common causes behind MS Access database damage or corruption are:

  • MS Access db file exceeds the specified size limitation
  • Failure of hardware or software
  • Multiple users simultaneously working on the database (.accdb) file
  • Sudden shutdown of system or power outage
  • Incompetent or ineffective database design or structure
  • Frequent addition or deletion of data from MEMO fields
  • Virus or malware attack 

When your MS Access database becomes corrupt or damaged, you cannot access the database (.accdb) files, thus forcing you to halt your important work. In such a situation, you need to look for a solution on how to repair the Access database file. You can try using the Microsoft Access’ built-in Compact and Repair utility to repair a damaged or corrupt Access database. The ‘Compact’ feature helps you to reduce the size of the database by eliminating the unused space. On the other hand, the ‘Repair’ function helps in fixing minor corruption issues in the database files.

At times, the utility fails to fix the issues with the database file due to severe corruption/damage in the .accdb file or any other reason. When such a situation arises, you need to look for an alternate solution to repair your corrupt or damaged MS Access database file.

How to Repair MS Access Database when Compact and Repair Utility Fails?

If the ‘Compact and Repair’ utility fails to resolve the issues and you urgently need to repair your MS Access database, a better alternative is to use a powerful MS Access database repair tool such as Stellar Repair for Access. This is an advanced tool that can easily resolve all types of corruption issues in MS Access database. It helps you fix corruption or damaged.ACCDB files and recover all the objects in the database in few simple steps.

There are several benefits of employing the Stellar Repair for Access tool:

  • Repairs Access database corruption occurring in all database objects such as tables, forms, deleted records, macros, indexes, linked tables, modules, etc.
  • Recovers deleted tables, attachments, long number data type, etc.
  • It also recovers deleted table records.
  • Provides a preview of the database objects before saving.

Let’s now understand the functional criteria of this Access Database Repair software.

Steps to Repair Corrupted MS Access Database

Step 1: Download, install and launch the software.

Step 2: In the Select Database window, click Browse or Search to select the corrupted MS Access database file.

Select access database file
Figure 1: Select Database Window

Step 3: You can select ‘Scan for Deleted Records’ option to recover items that have been deleted from the database.

Scan for deleted records
Figure 2: Scan for Deleted Records Option in Select Database Window

Step 4: Once the file is selected, click the Repair button.

The software will scan the database file and enlists all the recoverable objects. You can check the preview of all the repairable database objects.

Preview of repaired database
Figure 3: List of Recoverable Items

  Step 5: Click Save Database on File menu to save the database objects.

Step 6: When Save At window appears, select the location to save the recovered file, and then click OK.

saving repaired access database file
Figure 4: Save at Window

Step 7:  Click OK, when the repair process is completed successfully message appears.

repaired selected database completed
Figure 5: Repaired Process Successfully Completed Message

This way, the ACCDB repair process can be executed to recover data from even highly damaged Access database files.

Conclusion

Although Compact and Repair is a useful built-in tool offered by Microsoft, this feature at times becomes unavailable or does not work while repairing the corrupt or damaged database files. In such a situation, you are left with no other option than to deploy a professional tool such as Stellar Repair for Access. The software can help you repair damaged or corrupt MS Access database (.ACCDB) file and recover the entire database objects in a quick and risk-free way.

About The Author

Jyoti Prakash

Problem solver and Data recovery specialist. Usually share informative articles on data recovery, database corruption and ways to recover lost data.

Best Selling Products

Stellar Repair for Access

Stellar Repair for Access

Powerful tool, widely trusted by users &

Read More
Stellar Repair for MS SQL

Stellar Repair for MS SQL

Stellar Repair for MS SQL is an enterpri

Read More
Stellar Repair for Excel

Stellar Repair for Excel

Stellar Repair for Excel software provid

Read More
Stellar Repair for MySQL

Stellar Repair for MySQL

Stellar Repair for MySQL is an advanced

Read More

11 comments

  1. Jake Bourne says:
    January 17, 2017 at 9:57 am

    As a newbie, I only know the compact and repair solution to repair the corrupt Access database but, when it did not work for me so, I moved to this post, read all reviews and decided to try the free version of this software. The free version provides the preview of recoverable data, which also helped me to buy this tool.

    Reply
  2. Jennifer Mazeikis says:
    December 15, 2016 at 3:46 am

    I was very upset when I did not get a response from the compact and repair command. My database was not split, and I had the full permission of it. The worst thing was that I didn’t get any error message. I downloaded your Access Repair software to recover access database.

    Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Zachary K. says:
    November 23, 2016 at 5:42 am

    Hello,

    My database file was growing enormously, so I run compact and repair command. The database was working very slow and takes too much time to execute the query. Finally, I repaired it using Stellar Repair for Access tool.

    Reply
  4. MIke says:
    November 10, 2016 at 5:20 am

    Does compact and repair create temp file?

    Reply
    1. Jyoti Prakash says:
      November 11, 2016 at 6:07 am

      Hi Mike,

      Yes, Compact and repair does create a new temp file and after performing the task, deletes it.

      Reply
  5. Bonnie Hart says:
    October 27, 2016 at 5:28 am

    Hello,

    I created a new blank DB and import everything from the old one. It worked fine for me.

    Reply
  6. Patrick Buckley says:
    October 24, 2016 at 5:42 am

    Very helpful suggestion. This post makes my work easier, and I got the ability to manage corruption of MS Access database when compact and repair not works.

    Reply
  7. Deniel says:
    October 12, 2016 at 11:12 am

    I was googling and found your blog. I read the whole article and, I think it is very useful for those MS Access database users who has the issue in compact and repair command.

    Reply
  8. Sandra Miller says:
    September 28, 2016 at 5:49 am

    I am working for an IT firm in database department. Paid tool or third party tool can be the last option to repair the database. I choose your tool because situation was out of control.
    First I tried Access Fix tool and downloaded in the system. Everything was fine but, it was showing the blank space at some places in the table data. I did the same process with your tool, and it was showing data where access fix showing blank space. That is why I decided to buy Stellar Repair for Access software.

    Reply
  9. Sera Brown says:
    September 21, 2016 at 5:16 am

    I got the following error message: “The Microsoft Jet database engine could not find the object ‘Myobject’. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and the path name correctly” compact and repair is unable to fix the issue.

    How can I fix this error?

    Reply
    1. Jyoti Prakash says:
      September 21, 2016 at 6:59 am

      Hi Sera,

      This error message occurred when system object or user object became damaged, and MS Access database cannot recognize them.

      You can easily download our Access database repair tool to fix this error.
      Good Luck!

      Reply

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Image Captcha
Refresh Image Captcha

Enter Captcha Here :

Table of Contents    arrow

  1. How to Repair MS Access Database when Compact and Repair Utility Fails?
  2. Conclusion

Categories

offer banner

Related Posts

related post
Access Database

[Fixed]: “Access Database cannot be Opened because the VBA Project Contained in it cannot be Read” Error

Stellar Author Monika Dadool January 31, 2023 Read More
related post
Access Database

How to Fix MS Access Error 3159 – “Not A Valid Bookmark”?

Stellar Author Monika Dadool January 27, 2023 Read More
related post
Access Database

How to Fix Microsoft Access Database ‘Won’t Open Issue’?

Stellar Author Monika Dadool January 5, 2023 Read More

Free Trial for 60 Days

Technology You Can Trust A Brand Present Across The Globe

Stellar Official Website

Stellar Data Recovery Inc.
48 Bridge Street Metuchen,
New Jersey 08840,
United States

ALSO AVAILABLE AT

ALSO AVAILABLE AT

About

  • About us
  • Career
  • ISMS Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • License Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • End User License Agreement

RESOURCES

  • Blog
  • Articles
  • Product Videos
  • Knowledge Base
  • Case Studies
  • Whitepapers
  • Software Catalog

NEWS & EVENTS

  • News
  • Events

PARTNERS

  • Affiliates
  • Resellers
  • Distributors

Useful Links

  • Contact Us
  • Support
  • Special Offers
  • Student Discounts
  • Awards & Reviews
  • Downloads
  • Store
  • Sitemap

Stellar & Stellar Data Recovery are Registered Trademarks of Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. © Copyright 2023 Stellar Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. All Trademarks Acknowledged.

Follow Us Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube