Can I open an Access .accdb file without Access?
Yes. Base by Zaweba imports .accdb and .mdb files on Windows, tables, records and relationships included, if the Access Database Engine is installed.
Yes, on Windows you can. Base by Zaweba imports Microsoft Access .accdb and .mdb files, either one table at a time or the whole database with its tables, records and relationships. It reads the Access file without changing it, and it needs the Access Database Engine installed on the PC to do so.
The result is a Base database of your own, in a single .obase file, which you can then browse, search, edit and build on.
What Access is, and why the file is awkward
Microsoft Access is the long-standing desktop database from Microsoft, sold as part of some Office editions. Its files end in .accdb (or .mdb for older versions) and hold tables, queries, forms, reports and code together. Without Access itself, those files are hard to open, which leaves people stuck with a club's membership list or a business's old stock records and no easy way in.
What the Access Database Engine is
The Access Database Engine is Microsoft's own component for reading Access files. Base uses it to get at the data, which is why the import is offered on Windows only and why the engine must be installed first. If it is missing, Base can't read the file. Once it is there, the import works without Access being installed.
Two ways to bring the data in
The first is to import a single table, much as you would import a spreadsheet. That is quick when all you need is the list of contacts or the stock table, and you can put it into an existing table or make a new one.
The second is to import the whole database. Base brings across every table with its field types and records. AutoNumber keys become record ids, so the numbers people know are kept. Relationships become Base lookup fields, and where the Access relationship deleted related records along with the main one, the cascade is kept too. Open the relationships diagram afterwards and you'll see the same structure drawn out, box by box.
What doesn't come across
The import is about data and structure. Access forms, reports, queries and code are not converted. In practice that is less of a loss than it sounds: Base has a form designer with an Auto form that builds a complete form for a table (with sub-forms for the tables that look it up), a visual query builder, and grouped reports that print or save as PDF. Rebuilding the handful of forms and reports you actually used is often less work than it sounds.
The import is also read-only in the sense that matters: your Access file is left as it was. That makes it safe to try, and you can import again later if the original keeps changing while you get the new version ready.
After the import
Start by opening each table in the datasheet and checking a few records against what you know. Sort a column or two, look at dates and money, and make sure the lookups show the text you expect in their dropdowns. Then open the relationships diagram and tidy the layout so the picture makes sense.
From there you can add things Access users will recognise: validation rules with your own messages, input masks for postcodes and phone numbers, value lists for dropdown choices and calculated fields. Base backs up the file automatically when you open it, and keeps the latest ten copies.
Not on Mac or Linux
Base by Zaweba also runs on macOS and Linux with the same .obase files, but the .accdb import is Windows only. If the rest of your work is on a Mac, do the import once on a Windows PC and carry the .obase file across.
