Link Access to Excel

A most useful feature is the ability to Link between Excel and Access.

In order to link an Access Query to an Excel spreadsheet, an ODBC connection must first be defined:
Start / Settings / Administrative Tools / Data Sources (ODBC)
System DSN Tab /Add / Choose Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)
Name and Describe your data source
Click Select, choose your Access Database, Click OK until the ODBC window closes.
Your ODBC connection is defined.

Now from within Excel:
From the top menu bar, choose: Data / Get External Data / New Database Query
In the Choose Data Source window, select the ODBC recently created and click OK.
Now all the tables and Queries available in the database will appear.
Make your selection and drill down to the fields you want to bring back.
Navigate the next screens by choosing any filters or sorting options.

Next time you want to refresh the data from within Excel, right click on any of the data fields and choose Refresh Data. Alternatively, you can configure the data to be refreshed automatically upon opening Excel. These configurations are found by right clicking in any of the linked fields in Excel and choosing Data Range Properties.

A word to the wise:
If linking many queries in many spreadsheets, name the queries in Access so the will appear on top when sorting by query names. And name your spreadsheets identically to the queries they link. Since the Choose Data Source window in Excel is so small, this naming convention will make maintenance easier.

Known problems:
These linked Queries sometimes start acting up and don't refresh appropriately.
Solution: Delete the rows or Sheet and link the query again--no need for creating new ODBC.