Changing Default Control and Form/Report Settings

This is one of those features that almost nobody knows about because it isn't very discoverable. In Access 2007 (and earlier), you can change the default property values for any new controls in a form or report. Here are the necessary steps:

1. Open/Create form or report in design mode;
2. Select the "Design" contextual tab (or the equivalent toolbar with the controls for Access 2003 and earlier);
3. Open the Property Sheet (using the Ribbon or hitting ALT+ENTER);
4. Notice that the property sheet caption says "Selection Type: Default <Control>";
5. Change the properties at will;

From this point on, any new controls you create will have its default properties set to what you customized.

It's worth mentioning that any changes you make will only exist in the context of this form or report alone. However, you can also create settings that apply to all newly created Forms and Report. For this purpose, follow the same steps 1-5 above, and do one more:

   6. Save the Form or Reports with the name "Normal";

If there is a "Normal" (like Word's Normal.dot) form, all new forms will inherit its settings. The same goes for reports, but notice that form settings cannot be inherited by reports and vice-versa. Of course, if you delete the "Normal" form or report, you will not affect the default settings of the already created forms and reports since they already inherited them. Only newly form and reports from then on will not inherit the settings anymore.

This is a very neat feature to speed up creating a number of forms and reports that will use similarly set controls (or width/height even) without having to go through multiple copy and paste runs.

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2006
  Hi Hugh, can you post a picture of where the property sheet caption says "Selection Type: Default <Control>"? Because I can't find it.

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2006
  Look right below the title of the property sheet ("Property Sheet"), but above the object drop down.

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2006
  I'm afraid I still can't find it :-) I have Access 2003. When you open a form in design view, the property sheet title says "Form" and even if I click the Access controls toolbar, the property sheet title still says "Form" and there's nothing between the property sheet title and the object drop down.

• Anonymous
  October 11, 2006
  Ah - you have Access 2003. In Access 2003 you don't have this text between the property sheet title and the object drop down. This is an Access 2007 necessity since in 2007 the property sheet is no longer a standalone window, so its title no longer changes. In Access 2003, you need to:

1. Open the form in design;
2. Open the property sheet and controls toolbar;
3. Click on one of the controls button in the toolbar WITHOUT clicking anywhere else (such as creating a new control in the form);
4. The property sheet window title changes to "Default X";