Specifying Required Fields and Default Values

Some fields contain essential information. For example, social security numbers are required for employees in order to process payroll and other reports. You set fields like these as required fields, which means that Access refuses to accept a record until you enter an acceptable value for that field. You can also set a default value for a field, a value Access uses unless a user enters a different one. If a field usually has the same value, such as a city or state if most contacts are local, you could assign that value as the default in order to speed up data entry.

Create a Required Field

Display the table in Design view, and then click a field that you want to be a required field.

Click the Required box.

Click the list arrow, and then click Yes.

Specify a Default Value

Display the table in Design view, and then click a field for which you want to set a default value.

Click the Default Value box.

Enter the default value for the field in the box.