Access offers a variety of query types that allow you to select and display specific data in the database in different ways. You choose the query type, specify the fields you want to see, and, if necessary, set conditions for filtering the data.
The main types of queries in Access include:
Advanced Filter/Sort: The simplest type of query, allowing you to find and sort information from a single table. Available via the Home tab in the Sort & Filter group by selecting More → Advanced Filter/Sort.
Select Query: allows you to select data from one or more tables and display it in the desired order. You can specify criteria for filtering records in the query. Queries that show individual records are called detail queries, and those that summarize data are called summary or Totals queries.
Totals or Summary Query: A type of select query that allows you to perform calculations such as sum, average, or other aggregate functions instead of displaying each record.
Parametric Query: Asks the user for one or more values before displaying the data.
AutoLookup Query: Automatically substitutes data into a table.
Action Query: Changes data based on specified conditions. It can delete records, update data, add data from one table to another, or create new tables.
Crosstab Query: converts a standard table with records vertically and fields horizontally into a table with calculations. The values of one field are displayed in rows, those of another in columns, and the data is summed, averaged, or counted according to the settings.
Select queries are the most commonly used type of query in Access. They serve as the basis for all other types of queries that add additional functionality. When creating a select query, you use the designer grid to select the fields and records to be displayed. The skills you learn when working with select queries can be applied to creating other types of queries.
