Compact on Close crashes multiple databases from various versions of Access

Question

I have been working with numerous databases in the past few months from my Access 365 for Business through the desktop program. As a "developer" of databases, I have always had the Compact on Close enabled to remove extraneous data and keep the database from growing wildly large. However, in very recent weeks, Access crashes when closing:

Microsoft Access can't delete [databaseName].accdb after compacting it. The compacted database has been named..*Database.mdb.*

This happens for ALL databases, current development, production, and old databases created with pervious versions of Access. They are not split, I have sole access, I have read/write permission, they are on my computer not on a network, and nothing else apparent has changed. At first I thought it was a fluke; created a new database, copied the tables and forms over, and saved it. But it too crashed on close. 

Recognizing it was not a problem associated with a single database, I figured my copy of Access had become corrupted. Corporate reinstalled the entire office suite, including Access. Alas, the reinstall did not solve the crashing issue.

I am left with copying the file name, saving, manually compacting, accepting the error, and renaming the Database.mdb to the filename.accdb.

Is there anyone else experiencing this issue?

Answer 1

Hi Joey,

If you would like to change the Office 365 update channel, here is an article you could refer: How to switch from Semi-Annual Channel to Monthly Channel for the Office 365 suite. The version 1808 is Semi-Annual (Targeted) channel and 1811 it the latest monthly channel. Update history for Office 365 ProPlus (listed by date).

About the bloating issue, I think it's mainly on the datasets and their index. Usually, if you use the database, the file size should grow. There are some methods to prevent it like Compact and Repair utility.

Regards,

Alex

Answer 2

Daniel, 

Thank you for the reply (sorry for the delay). 

For years I have had Compact on Close, but since disabling it, even if ran periodically, it still causes it to crash and rename to Database.mdb.

The version I am using is: (this is the version that crashes on Compact on Close)

Version 1808 (Build 10730.20262 Click-to-Run)

Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus

I tried a couple of the databases on my home computer

Version 1811 (Build 11029.20108 Click-to-Run) 

I had no problem with this version (Access 2016 Pro)

1808 is the version offered by my company. I may need to see if they can force the update to 1811. Maybe that is the issue. 

Also, while I am building out the database, (not just the data but the structure, forms, reports, VBA) can that cause bloating? 

Thanks,

Joey

Answer 3

Hi Gobojoe1,

Haven't heard from you for a while. Feel free to share some updates with us at your convenience and we will keep asissting.

Regards,

Alex

Answer 4

Compact on close is typically not a good idea.  Your database shouldn't bloat regularly and this this shouldn't be necessary.  If it is then you need to address the issue causing the bloating.

As for the problem you are facing, what is your Access build number?  Have you tried reverting or updating your build?