First Published 23 Sept 2026

This article shows how the current database can be safely closed and restarted using code.
This can be useful if you use VBA to change an option which requires a restart to take effect e.g. change Office language or document display option.

CODE:

Public Sub RestartCurrentDatabase()
    Dim strPath As String
    Dim strAccessExe As String
    Dim strCommand As String
    
    ' 1. If you want to ensure the current active record is saved before restarting:
'    On Error Resume Next
'    If Screen.ActiveForm.Dirty Then Screen.ActiveForm.Dirty = False
'    On Error GoTo 0
    
    ' 2. Get current database full path
    strPath = Application.CurrentProject.FullName
    
    ' 3. Dynamically retrieve the Access installation path using SysCmd
    strAccessExe = SysCmd(acSysCmdAccessDir) & "MSACCESS.EXE"
    
    ' 4. Build shell execution string with a 1-second delay to release locks
    strCommand = "cmd.exe /c timeout /t 1 /nobreak >nul & """ & strAccessExe & """ """ & strPath & """"
    
    ' 5. Spawn background shell process
    Shell strCommand, vbHide
    
    ' 6. Quit current instance safely
    Application.Quit acQuitSaveAll
End Sub

The code can be run from a form or a standard module. It can also be run from a macro provided it is changed to a function.

Many thanks to Xevi Batlle for suggesting this code.



Download

Click to download: Restart Access    (ACCDB file - approx 0.35 MB (zipped)

As is the case for all files downloaded from the internet, first unblock the downloaded file, unzip then save to a trusted location.
For more details, see my article: Unblock downloaded files by removing the Mark of the Web



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Colin Riddington	Mendip Data Systems	Last Updated 23 Sept 2026

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