Week in Review: February 21, 2026
Highlights include an advanced data grid for Access, AI-assisted development of a Monaco SQL Editor, and tips for handling the Not In List event.
Just Published
This section includes videos, articles, and (occasionally) open-source project updates from the past 7 days.
Articles
*Article descriptions generated by Claude-Opus-4.6.
- Official Access Blog
- Access bug fixes — Versions 2511 through 2601, by LindaLu Cannon: A summary of bug fixes in Access Versions 2511 and 2512, covering issues with the Monaco SQL editor, dark theme visibility, nested subform errors, Advanced Filter/Sort behavior, and ODBC connection refreshes from Excel.
- Access Forever
- List of Access Bug Fixes in 2026, by Karl Donaubauer: A consolidated, searchable list of all Access bug fixes published by Microsoft in 2026, continuing the yearly compilations that began in 2022.
- John Mallinson (The VBA Help)
- Opening Microsoft documentation web pages using VBE_Extras: An overview of a new VBE_Extras feature that opens Microsoft documentation web pages for type library members, improving on the VBE's built-in F1 help especially when using special binding.
- Daniel Pineault (DEVelopers HUT)
- PowerShell Get-ComputerSpecs: Your IT Swiss Army Knife: A PowerShell function that collects comprehensive hardware, software, and security inventory from local or remote Windows machines in a single command.
- Microsoft Feedback Portal Suggestion Disappeared Again Without Notice Or Explanation: Another of the author's Microsoft Feedback Portal suggestions silently vanished without any notification, status change, or explanation.
- Robots.txt and Blocking AI Bots What Website Owners Need to Know in 2026: A guide to using robots.txt to control AI crawlers, including a list of 25+ known AI bot user agents and strategies for stronger server-level protections.
- The Microsoft Access Dev. Team :: MIA?!: A commentary on the near six-month silence from the Microsoft Access development team, with no roadmap updates, blog posts, or release notes.
- How Microsoft Set Users Up for Failure with Outlook and OneDrive: An analysis of how Microsoft's default placement of Outlook PST files in the Documents folder, combined with OneDrive's automatic sync, creates a fragile configuration that breaks Outlook for many users.
- Free Nonprofit CRM Template to Organize Contacts and Members: A free, fully unlocked Microsoft Access membership database template designed to help nonprofits track contacts, members, addresses, communications, and renewals.
- MS Access VBA – Not In List Event: Reusable VBA functions for handling the combo box Not In List event in Microsoft Access, progressing from a basic single-field approach to an advanced multi-field version.
- How to Prioritize Wi‑Fi Connections in Windows Using Command Prompt: A quick guide to using the netsh command to control which Wi-Fi network Windows connects to first.
- Colin Riddington (Isladogs on Access)
- Monaco SQL Editor - Changes, Issues and Fixes: A detailed and ongoing log of main changes, known issues, and bug fixes for the Monaco SQL Editor feature added to Access 365 in autumn 2024.
- PUZZLE: Access Message Boxes with no code: A puzzle challenging readers to figure out how three different styles of message box are displayed in an Access database without using any VBA code.
- Disable Design View Shortcuts: An exploration of the little-known "Disable Design View Shortcuts" checkbox that appears in object properties when using custom navigation pane groups in Access.
- Mike Wolfe (NoLongerSet)
- Throwback Thursday: February 20, 2026: A curated roundup of articles and resources focused on taking your VBA string-building skills to the next level.
Videos
- Access User Group Recordings (YouTube channel)
- SQL Server with Access Academy - CTEs and Stored Procedures (47:40): with Juan Soto
- Creating an Advanced Data Grid Integrated with Access (01:05:21): with Aleksander Wojtasz
- Introductions: Past Presenters and Attendees of the Access Lunchtime Group (1:00:11): with Maria Barnes and others
- Designing a Monaco Editor with AI for Access (01:27:59): with Ben Sacherich
- Richard Rost (YouTube channel)
- Overlooked Optimization (39:14): The Often Overlooked Optimization Most Microsoft Access Developers Miss (QQ #80)
- Update Field (21:48): How To Create An Update Field VBA Helper Function
- Access Day 2026 (02:39): Microsoft Access Day: March 27, 2026 in Redmond, Washington. Meet Access Team Members & MVPs
- SQL Server for Access Users - Beginner Level 1
- Daniel Pineault (YouTube channel)
- On Not In List Event (19:56)
New to Me
This section includes content I discovered this week that has been around for a while.


Upcoming Access User Group Events
NOTE: Only English-language user group meetings with scheduled guest speakers or topics are listed. For a complete list of upcoming events, visit the Access User Group event calendar. Not all links below include the start time and time zone. For that information, check out this handy reference guide from Access MVP Maria Barnes over at AccessForever.org: Access User Groups 2025.
- [February 24, 2026] Crystal Long: Recursive Functions
- [March 04, 2026] Chris Arnold: Using Disconnected (In-Memory) ADO Recordsets in Access
- [March 27, 2026] Access Day (in person in Redmond, WA): speakers TBA
- [March 31, 2026] Maria Barnes: Interfacing with the Outlook calendar
- [April 1, 2026] Peter Cole: Using vbWatchdog with Access
- [April 16-17, 2026] Access DevCon Vienna (virtual): speakers TBA
- [May 6, 2026] Tim Finch: Grid Lanes
- [June 3, 2026] Kevin Bell: SQL Server Tips and Tricks for Access Developers
- [September 2, 2026] John Mallinson: Working with the Windows API
Access Roadmap
There were no changes made to the roadmap between the Week in Review last week (2026-02-14) and this week (2026-02-21).
The roadmap was last updated October 15, 2025.
Listed below is a snapshot of the official Access Roadmap.
"In Development", "Rolling Out", and "Launched" are Microsoft terms that I pulled straight from the public roadmap. Dates listed are "rollout start" dates.
In Development
OCT 2025: Add zoom slider magnification to Microsoft Access: Access will add magnification slider (10% to 500%) in lower right of the application, similar to the feature in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It will also be keyboard accessible and available on the ribbon.DEC 2025: Modernize Access Forms and Reports to work well on Large Format Monitors: Remove the 22-inch size limit and modernize Access forms and reports work well on large format monitors and provide responsive behavior for different form factors.
Rolling Out
None listed.
Launched
None listed.
Development Priorities
"Development Priorities" do not appear on the Access Roadmap. Instead, they get updated from time to time in official Access blog posts or Access engineering team presentations. I'll include a link to the source of the current development priorities as they get updated.
The items listed below reflect Microsoft's order of priority and were published in the following Access Forever article, Microsoft's Plans for Access Oct '25 – March '26.
- Continued focus on monthly issue fixes, security, customer-reported bugs, etc. to improve product quality, security, reliability, and relevance. Most of our engineering hours are spent here.
- Large monitor support: Remove 22” limitation to support using Access on modern hardware.
- Large monitor support: Enable zoom slider magnification for forms.
- Large monitor support: Modernize forms to work well on large monitors.
- Time allowing, we’ll continue to work on remaining large monitor support features (support zoom in reports and design layout, automatic zooming, support multiple monitor scenarios).
- If we still have time left over in the semester, we will begin work on Git integration for source code management in Access. (Spec is in progress. We will likely roll this out in phases also beginning the second half of 2026.)
Special thanks to Karl Donaubauer for posting the updated priorities at AccessForever.org.
Upcoming End-of-Life Dates
Here are the key end-of-life dates Access developers should track:
2024
SQL Server 2014[JUL 09]
2025
Access 2016 | Access 2019 | Office 2016 | Office 2019[OCT 14]Windows 10[OCT 14]Salesforce ODBC Driver[OCT 28]Windows 11 version 23H2[NOV 11]
2026
[APR 01]Auto-migration of Classic Outlook begins for Enterprise users[JUL 14]SQL Server 2016[OCT 13]Access 2021 | Office 2021[OCT 13]Windows 11 version 24H2
2027
[JAN 12]Windows Server 2016[OCT 12]SQL Server 2017
2029
[JAN 09]Windows Server 2019[OCT 09]Access 2024 | Outlook 2024[OCT 09(or later)]Classic Outlook- See "Edit 8/12/2024" at top of this article for official clarification that "both perpetual and subscription [i.e., MS 365] versions of Outlook will be supported until 2029"
- Support for Classic Outlook is guaranteed at least through 9 Oct 2029; it may be extended beyond this date
2030
[JAN 08]SQL Server 2019
2031
[OCT 14]Windows Server 2022
2033
[JAN 11]SQL Server 2022
2034
[OCT 10]Windows Server 2025
Ongoing
- Microsoft 365 (with subscription)
Date TBD
- Complete removal of VBScript from Windows OS (Microsoft Announces the Death of VBScript)
