How to Reduce MS Access(.mdb) file size after deleting the content

One of our company user today called and ask me about his MS Access database problem. He was asking why his MS Access file which 20MB is still the same size after deleting all records on its database. After explaining the solution I thought I might post the workaround here to help others too. Microsoft Access doesn't reclaim free up space used by records after they were deleted but you can reclaim it manually.


Here's a step-by-step on how to do it (please backup your original copy first before continuing):

1. Open your MS Access file with MS Access Office. If your trying to compact shared database, remove the sharing first and be sure your the only one using it.
2. On the menu, select Tools>Database Utilities>Compact and Repair Database...



3. MS Access will automatically close, compact and re-open your MS Access file

After these steps, your file should be smaller now. Also if you have Auto number fields, all of it will reset to 1.