Entering a Default Value

After you've opened the table you want to change in Design view, click in the field for which you want to enter a default value (in this example, the StateOrProvince field).

In the property sheet, click in the Default Value field.

Type the default value in quotation marks (in this example, "IN" is entered).

The default value is now included as part of the database table design. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar in the main Access window to save changes to the table.

INTRODUCTION If you commonly enter the same value in a field, you can set a default value. For example, suppose that most of your business is local. In that case, you could enter your state as the default state if your table contains a StateOrProvince field or something similar. That way, you won't have to type the state each time you create a new record. You can always override the default when needed.

TIP Existing Data Existing entries are not affected by this change. Only new records that you create will use the default value. Remember, however, that you can always override the default value by typing a different entry.