UKAUG 2026: Version Control for Access Developers

Links and resources from my talk today at the UK Access User Group Autumn 2026 Conference at The Phoenix, Cavendish Square, London.

The talk walked through putting an existing Access application under version control with Git, using Adam Waller’s free VCS Add-in and GitHub Desktop: the first commit, rebuilding the database from source, and pushing to and pulling from GitHub. The slide deck also covers protecting your main branch, pull requests, squash merges, and letting AI handle the Git commands for you.

Slide Deck

This time, the slide deck is not a PDF. It’s an interactive web page that covers everything I showed, step by step, so you can follow along even if you weren’t there:

Open the slide deck: Version Control for Access Developers

Each slide is a title and one picture. The explanations, commands, and step-by-step instructions live behind the pictures:

• Move between slides with the arrow keys, Space, or the outline down the left side.
• Click anything with a teal dot to open a detail panel. Press D to open the details for the current slide.
• Press ? to see every keyboard shortcut.
• The Live demo button on the demo slides opens the runbook I followed during the live demo. Its file paths are specific to my PC, but they show exactly what I did.

The deck is a single, self-contained HTML file. Save it to your computer, and it works offline.

Why Git?

Longtime readers know I held out with Mercurial and TortoiseHg long after most of the world moved to Git. This talk uses Git and GitHub Desktop. These two articles explain why I resisted for so long, and what finally changed my mind:

Mercurial: The Road Less Traveled

Unfortunately, choosing the less popular version control system has some important real-world drawbacks.

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The Road Now Taken: Why AI Moved Me from Mercurial to Git

As the world marched inexorably toward Git, I clung for dear life to Mercurial--until now. AI is the anvil that broke the camel's back.

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Several of the older articles below were written while I was still using Mercurial, so their screenshots and instructions show TortoiseHg. The concepts carry over to Git unchanged; only the buttons you click are different. I’ve flagged those articles where they appear.

Links Related to Today’s Talk

This section includes links referenced in my slide show. These are also linked from the slide deck’s detail panels.

Why Version Control?

Make Your Access App More Resilient with Version Control

Reassembling the pieces of a fragile system is a fool's (horse's?) errand. Turning back the clock is a more reliable fix.

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The “spot the difference” puzzle from the talk, and why text-based version control beats a folder full of dated .accdb copies:

Learn to Love Text-Based Version Control with "Highlights for Children"

Why use text-based version control for visual objects like forms and reports? I'll tell you why, but first, find all the differences between these two pictures...

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The Moving Parts

What's the Purpose of an Access Version Control Add-in?

Access version control add-ins are not a replacement for Git, Subversion, or Mercurial.

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Version Control and Cloud Drives: Better Keep 'em Separated

Git and Mercurial repositories don't mix well with cloud drives like OneDrive and Dropbox. Here are two alternative approaches to keep you out of trouble.

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Why a readable diff is the payoff (TortoiseHg screenshots, same idea in GitHub Desktop):

It's All About the Diff

How can you figure out what you changed on a form when you can't remember changing anything on that form? Version control, of course.

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Install the VCS Add-in

Adam Waller’s free, open-source add-in. Version 5.1 was released just last week:

GitHub - joyfullservice/msaccess-vcs-addin: Synchronize your Access Forms, Macros, Modules, Queries, Reports, and more with a version control system.

Synchronize your Access Forms, Macros, Modules, Queries, Reports, and more with a version control system. - joyfullservice/msaccess-vcs-addin

GitHub

Installing the Access Version Control Add-in: Step-by-Step

Looking to try version control with Microsoft Access? Start here by installing Adam Waller's free and open-source Version Control Addin for MS Access.

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If Access shows a red SECURITY RISK bar instead of Enable Content, you skipped the “Unblock” step:

Mark-of-the-Web (MOTW) Details

Microsoft announced that VBA will be blocked soon in all files from the web. Let's dive into how Windows manages this "Mark of the Web."

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Install GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop | Simple collaboration from your desktop

GitHub is where people build software. More than 225 million people use GitHub to discover, fork, and contribute to over 800 million projects.

GitHub

Optional, but useful once you (or your AI coding agent) start working from the command line:

Git - Install for Windows

git-scm.com

GitHub CLI

Take GitHub to the command line

GitHub CLI

Commit, Build, Push, and Pull

A deep dive into the add-in with its author, including merge conflicts:

Access Version Control Add-in Deep Dive with Adam Waller

Behind the Scenes of the Add-in That Makes Git Workflows Possible for Access Databases (an Access User Group Talk with Adam Waller)

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Written for Mercurial, but the same rules apply to Git’s .gitignore and to undoing changes in GitHub Desktop:

Five Types of Files to Exclude From MS Access Version Control

The provided sample .hgignore and .gitignore files are good starting points when setting up new Microsoft Access version control repositories.

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Reverting Unwanted Changes

Using Version Control in Access is like having a time machine that makes it easy to undo design mistakes. Here's a quick overview of the process.

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Silence the Casing Noise

VBA's Case Changing "Feature"

VBA likes to change the casing of our code (upper/lower/mixed). It may seem random, but it's not. Read all the details here.

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VBA Letter Casing Nightmare Fixed in VCS Addin v5+

Do you write it `SQL` or `Sql` or `sql`? With v5 of the VCS Addin, you can choose one (and enforce it!) so Git will stop hassling you.

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How To: Enforce Consistent Letter Casing in VBA

Conquer VBA's case-changing "feature" once and for all with this simple, brute-force solution: the StandardizeLetterCasing() function.

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Easy Mode: Let AI Drive Git

Overview - Claude Code Docs

Claude Code is an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, runs commands, and integrates with your development tools. Available in your terminal, IDE, desktop app, and browser.

Claude Code Docs

Tools of the Trade: AI Edition

These are the key tools a Microsoft Access developer needs to unlock the full potential of AI-assisted software development workflows.

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UK AUG: Access Development with AI

Links and resources for my presentation today to the UK Access User Group.

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Past Presentations

If you enjoyed this presentation, you may enjoy some of my earlier ones on version control, as well. Both predate my switch to Git, so they set up TortoiseHg instead of GitHub Desktop:

DevCon 2024: Version Control with Access

A list of resources and further reading for my 2024 DevCon Vienna mini-presentation on version control with Microsoft Access.

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Access Day 2024: The Access Developer's Guide to Version Control

A list of resources and further reading for my 2024 Access Day presentation on version control with Microsoft Access.

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Presentations - No Longer Set

Advanced techniques and unique perspectives from a guy who pushes the limits of Microsoft Access software development. Warning: may contain strong opinions.

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