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Retiring Access and Excel databases: moving the data without losing it

Published 24 October 2026 · dotNewLABS

Almost every clinic network and finance team has an Access database or a spreadsheet that quietly runs a real process. When the person who built it moves on, or the tool is retired, the data and the rules inside it have to go somewhere safe.

1. Find them all

Search shared drives for .accdb, .mdb and macro-enabled workbooks, and ask departments what they open daily. Note who uses each one, what feeds it and what reads from it.

2. Write down what each one actually does

Look at queries, macros and formulas. These hold business rules such as how a balance is calculated or which records are flagged. Capture them in plain English and have the owner confirm before you move anything.

3. Choose the destination

• SQL Server for data that several people or systems use.
• The new vendor system when the process is moving there anyway.
• Retire what nobody uses, after a read-only grace period.

4. Clean as you move, and log every change

Duplicates, free-text where a code belongs and inconsistent dates are common. Fix them with scripts, not by hand, and log what changed so the result can be explained later.

5. Prove the numbers match

Compare row counts, key totals and sample records between the old file and the new home, and have the owner check a few results they know well. Here is how we do that.

6. Control access afterwards

A file on a shared drive is easy for anyone to copy. In the new home, give each person only the access they need and keep an audit log.

More guides

• Changing a vendor? A data migration checklist for healthcare and finance
• How to prove a data migration lost nothing
• All guides