The Navigation Pane

When you open a new or existing database in Office Access 2007, the objects in your database — the tables, forms, reports, queries, macros, and so on — appear in the Navigation Pane.

The Navigation Pane appears by default when you open a database in Office Access 2007 — the pane replaces the Database window used by earlier versions of Access. As a rule, if you used the Database window (in a previous version of Access) to perform a task, you now perform that task by using the Navigation Pane. For example, if you need to run a report or enter data directly into a new table row, you now perform those tasks from the Navigation Pane.

If you are using one of the Microsoft Access 2007 templates, a number of queries, forms, and reports have already been formulated for you. Once again, you can use them as is or customize them to meet your needs.

For example, continuing with our Student template:

Note: If you are creating a new blank database, objects like tables, forms, and queries will be added to the Navigation Pane as you create them.