Software developers, data architects and power users have expressed a need to run Microsoft Access on their Mac without partitioning their hard drives or restarting.

Firstly, if you fall into this category, Parallels Desktop for Mac can assist you with developing application software without reformatting or rebooting your machine. As seen below:

Access 2016 in Win10 in Parallels Desktop

Secondly, users can create tables, queries, forms, and reports that connect their projects together with macros. Even more advanced users utilize Visual Basic for apps to write advanced data manipulation and user control solutions.

Update Office from the Mac App Store. If you downloaded Office from the Mac App Store, and have automatic updates turned on, your apps will update automatically. But you can also manually download the updates: Open the Mac App Store from your Dock or Finder.

• Microsoft Office Access is not available for Mac but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The most popular Mac alternative is LibreOffice - Base, which is both free and Open Source.If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Microsoft Office Access and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a.
• Review title of Sayid MS Access Databases Support by Access-Templates.com. Microsoft Access is a database software that can help individuals easily enter, track, share, and report data which makes it a great software for anyone. Get supported by professional Microsoft access databases and templates expert at access-templates.com.
• Quit out of all Office for Mac apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. Search for 'keychain' in Spotlight and launch the Keychain Access app. Select the login keychain entry in the top left navigator pane, then from the File menu, choose Lock Keychain.

Here at Parallels, we’re excited whenever our customers share with us the incredible projects they produce and how Parallels Desktop has helped them get work done faster!

Check out how some of our users are using virtualization for Microsoft Access:

Juan Becker of New York – “I was given a Mac when coming onto the team at a new job and as a life-long Microsoft guy I was missing the most important application for my position: Microsoft Access. I needed it and that was the issue but had no idea how to get it on my Mac or if it would even work.

I found Parallels as a solution for running Microsoft Access through the Parallels forums and saw other users had success. There are specific macros such as ActiveX data objects that work within MS Access that I need for my position and Parallels was and is so easy to use, which makes me a user for life. I additionally ended up buying Parallels Access for remotely connecting to my Mac or Windows through my tablet and phone, which allows me to travel for work without my laptop.

That, along with all of the other options and tools that Parallels offers, was a no-brainer, and like I said before, I was instantly sold and will remain a user for life!”

Jason Cooper of Indiana – “I am running a fairly large Microsoft Access database (roughly 60 MB), and as a longtime Boot Camp user, I quickly found myself needing to avoid restarting my machine every time I wanted to switch operating systems in order to speed up my work productivity.

The reputation of Parallels Desktop is what sold me three years ago. The first time I ran one of my queries through Parallels, it processed very quickly, in around five seconds.

I’m the lead webmaster and director of information security for my company, so finding a solution for Microsoft Access was a necessity. Additionally, I plan to do multi-platform software testing for work and found that Microsoft Access runs through Parallels exactly as if I were running it on a PC.”

Nevertheless, Parallels Desktop is an easy and cost-effective solution to run Microsoft Access on your Mac. It provides our customers and their employees with the right tools, which effectively allows our customers to be more productive in a virtual world. Try running Windows programs on your Mac without restarting for 14 days here FREE: Try Now!

Download Office Access For Mac

Need Microsoft Windows operating system to get started with Microsoft Access? Buy directly below:

File Maker Pro

FileMaker is probably the best known database application for the Mac. It has a feature set comparable to Microsoft Access, but with a strong focus on forms (layouts) as the primary way of accessing databases. Similar to Access, FileMaker stores your database logic and all the data in a single file. It also has some support for scripting, and offers options for publishing databases on the web.

However, it's also necessary to note that FileMaker is very different from Access. There is a strict distinction between application logic and the underlying tables in Access. In FileMaker, logic and data are more closely linked. The underlying tables are more or less hidden from the user, and not as easily accessible via SQL as in Access.

Bento

Bento was the entry level database application from the makers of Filemaker. Unfortunately it has been discontinued in July 2013 and is no longer available for purchase.

Open Office / Libre Office

Open Office and Libre office include a database application that tries to mimic Microsoft Access. It is difficult to use and misses many important features, such as simple import/export tools.

SQLite (using Base)

Microsoft Office For Mac With Access

SQLite is not a full database application like Access. There are no forms or reports in SQLite, there's only your data and a simple, fast SQL engine. SQLite is used by many applications under the hood as an internal format and therefore most interesting to application developers.

A command line utility for SQLite 3 is included with every Mac, aptly named sqlite3. Most people will however prefer working with a graphical application like the excellent Base from Menial (available on the Mac App Store). Base offers a simple interface for viewing tables (with support for images) and creating custom SQL queries.

Microsoft Office With Access For Macbook

Apple Numbers and Microsoft Excel

Numbers and Excel are spreadsheet applications and thus not a replacement for Microsoft Access. However, they have good support for working with tables. If your database consists of only few tables and no forms, these apps might just do the trick. You can at least sort and filter your tables.

Microsoft Office With Access For Macbook Air

Converting Access Databases to Apple Numbers with MDB Viewer
Converting Access Databases to Microsoft Excel with MDB Viewer

Microsoft Access in Parallels / VMWare

If none of the above are suitable, you can always ressort to actually running Microsoft Access on your Mac using virtualisation software like Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion.