Version 1.4           Approx 0.5 MB (zipped)                 First Published 21 Jan 2026                 Last Updated 12 Mar 2026


Back in 2022, I published an article showing how a custom On/Off Toggle Slider Control could be created in Access.
The idea was to replicate the toggle slider buttons used in Windows settings and on many other devices such as smartphones without relying on an ActiveX control.

For example, this is the Typing feature in the Windows 10 Settings app:


I always intended to show how this could be put to use in a settings form for an Access app. Finally, almost 4 years later, I am finally following up with an example app!

The original toggle slider buttons looked like this:


In the attached example app, I have modified both the colours and the border thickness to more closely resemble the appearance of the toggle sliders used in Windows Settings.
The blue colour used on the button is defined as: Public Const ColBlue As Long = 12808704   'RGB(0,114,195)


The example app includes a cut-down version of the settings form in my Database Analyzer Pro app which has been updated to use toggle slider controls.

It is used to read and update the values in the settings table, tblSettings. The values can be text or 'numbers'.

The toggle slider controls cannot be bound to data fields so the form is unbound.


When the form loads, it reads the values from tblSettings and updates the state of the toggle sliders as True / False and updates the adjacent label caption in line with the On / Off value in the table.

When a toggle slider is clicked, the button changes appearance, the label caption is updated as is the related value in tblSettings.
The example form also includes a textbox control where the settings table value is updated to match the value entered. A combo could be used instead.




Download

Click to download:           On / Off Toggle Slider DEMO v1.4    Approx 0.5 MB   (ACCDB - zipped)

As always with files downloaded from the internet, unblock the zip file to remove the 'mark of the web'.
Extract the ACCDB file and save it to a trusted location or click Enable Content on the security banner when it is first used.



Version History

Version	Release Date	Notes
1.1	2016-01-21	Initial release
1.4	2016-01-24	Bug fixes. Modified code to fix a reliability issue using the IsOn variable in the UpdateSettingsValue sub. Also corrected default value for cmd2 button. Thanks to Xevi Batlle for reporting both issues.

How the app works

To simplify coding, the form button names are cmd1 to cmd4 with related labels lbl1 to lbl4, where the number corresponds to the record ID in tblSettings.
When the form is loaded it runs an InitialiseForm procedure which reads each ItemValue from tblSettings then updates the label caption.
The slider control states are then updated using the FormatButton procedure.

Similar code is used to read the value of the field for ID=5 and populate the textbox, txt5.

Copy code
Private Sub InitialiseForm()
    
    Set db = CurrentDb
    
    'get values from tblSettings
    For I = 1 To 4
        Me("lbl" & I).Caption = IIf(Nz(DLookup("ItemValue", "tblSettings", "ID = " & I), "No") = "Yes", "On", "Off")
        
        If Me("lbl" & I).Caption = "On" Then
            FormatButton True, Me("cmd" & I)
        Else
            FormatButton False, Me("cmd" & I)
        End If
    Next
    
    Me.txt5 = Nz(DLookup("ItemValue", "tblSettings", "ID = 5"), 0)
    
End Sub

'-------------------------------------------------------

Function FormatButton(IsOn As Boolean, ctrl As control)

'sets the toggle button appearance on/off
If IsOn Then
    ctrl.BorderColor = ColBlue
    ctrl.BackColor = ColBlue
    ctrl.ForeColor = vbWhite
    ctrl.Alignment = 3
Else
    ctrl.BorderColor = vbBlack
    ctrl.BackColor = vbWhite
    ctrl.ForeColor = vbBlack
    ctrl.Alignment = 0
End If

End Function

When a slider control is clicked, it runs an UpdateSettingsValue procedure which updates the toggle slider state, the corresponding label caption and the table value.
The focus is also moved to the next control.

Copy code
Private Sub UpdateSettingsValue(I As Integer)

    If Me("lbl" & I).Caption = "On" Then 'v1.3
        FormatButton False, Me("cmd" & I)
        Me("lbl" & I).Caption = "Off"
        db.Execute "UPDATE tblSettings SET ItemValue = 'No' WHERE ID = " & I & ";", dbFailOnError
    Else
        FormatButton True, Me("cmd" & I)
        Me("lbl" & I).Caption = "On"
        db.Execute "UPDATE tblSettings SET ItemValue = 'Yes' WHERE ID = " & I & ";", dbFailOnError
    End If
    
    Select Case I
    
    Case 1 To 3
        Me("cmd" & (I + 1)).SetFocus
    
    Case 4
        Me("txt" & (I + 1)).SetFocus
    
    Case Else
        Me.cmdClose.SetFocus
        
    End Select

End Sub

Private Sub cmd1_Click()
    UpdateSettingsValue 1
End Sub

Private Sub cmd2_Click()
    UpdateSettingsValue 2
End Sub

Private Sub cmd3_Click()
    UpdateSettingsValue 3
End Sub

Private Sub cmd4_Click()
  UpdateSettingsValue 4
End Sub

This makes the Settings form very simple to code and it can be easily extended to manage additional records as required.

Normally I only have one settings form in each app, so I have put all the code in the form itself.
However, if you want to use toggle sliders in more than one form, the three procedures could be moved to a standard module with only minor changes needed.



Related Links     (UPDATED 12 Mar 2026)

Since I posted my original solution back in May 2022, several other developers have also created their own interesting variations on this technique. For example:

•   Mike Wolfe   (July 2022):   Uses bound toggle buttons     Modern On/Off Button in Access

•   Steve Halder   (Aug 2022):   As above but using triple state buttons (Yes / No / Null)     Triple-State Modern On/Off Switch in Access

•   Chris Arnold and Xavier Batlle   (Aug 2022):   Two different solutions for use with continuous forms     On/Off control for continuous form

•   Arnel Puzon   (Aug 2022):   Subform solution for single or continuous forms     Modern Controls On/Off Switch

•   Xavier Batlle   (Jan 2026):   Class module based solution for reusability     Convert all the old check box controls on a form to a modern style

•   Dale Fye   (Jan 2026):   This uses toggle buttons in a subform control     Custom toggle button for Microsoft Access

•   Gustav Brock   (Jan 2026):   No code solution with hidden checkbox & label     No-code toggle switch for Microsoft Access



Feedback

Please use the E-Mail button in the contact form below to let me know whether you found this article useful or if you have any questions.

Please also consider making a donation towards the costs of maintaining this website. Thank you



Colin Riddington           Mendip Data Systems                 Last Updated 12 Mar 2026

Return to Example Databases Page

Return to Top