How to Use a Query to Delete a Record in a Table in Access

Microsoft Access allows you to delete one or more records or tables from your database with the Delete statement. You can delete the records in Design View or SQL View. To prevent accidental deletions, it's important that your tables are set up correctly. By using primary keys (unique values specific to a record) and normalization (structured tables that include only data specific to that table), you can eliminate problems when you delete a record.

• 1

  Open the database you want to modify in Microsoft Access.

• 2

  Click "Queries" in the navigation pane. Right-click the query that includes the record you want to delete. Select "Design View" to load the query in Design View.

• 3

  Click the "Design" tab, and select "Delete" from the "Query Type" panel. The "Delete" option is added to the bottom pane.

• 4

  Go to the "Criteria" text field under the field you want to match. Type the value you want to check. For example, to delete a record from the "Employees" table in your query, you may enter the employee's identification number into the "Criteria" text field under the "EmployeeID" field.

• 5

  Go to the "Design" tab. Click "Run" in the "Results" panel.