First Published 19 Feb 2026	Last Updated 22 Feb 2026

The standard message box in Access is normally created with a single line of code. For example:

MsgBox "Hello world", vbOKOnly + vbExclamation, "Access says hello!"


There are many different styles of message box that can be created but all are normally dependant on a line or two of code

However, the simple database attached displays 3 different messages in turn, each in a different style. There is no VBA code used in the database.

When first opened, this message is displayed:


After clicking OK, a second message appears. This time, the old style Access message box with a bold first line:


After clicking OK again, a third message appears. This time (for Access 365 users), it is a new style Access message box with a larger red header line:


In older versions of Access, the third message will resemble the previous one with a bold first line.
As stated in the message, the database quits immediately after the third message is closed.

NOTE:
Just for clarification, when I said this is done without any code, I didn't mean that AI had written the code for me. There is no VBA code anywhere in the database.



Download

Click to download:     Look No Code     Approx 0.4 MB (zipped)



The Puzzle

How is this done without any code? Also how are the different message styles created?
For most experienced Access users, it will only take a minute or two to work out how the different messages are created by the Access expression service.

To find out more about the different styles of message being created, see my articles:

New Style Message Box: Part 1 - Using Wizhook and New Style Message Box: Part 2 - Using Eval

This may just be a (hopefully interesting) novelty but I would be interested to know whether anyone can suggest a practical use for this approach.



Video

I have created a short YouTube video (02:58) to demonstrate this using the example app.

You can watch the Access Messages Boxes With No Code video on my Isladogs YouTube channel or you can click below:



If you liked the video, please subscribe to my Isladogs on Access channel on YouTube. Thanks.



More Puzzles and Challenges

If you enjoyed this puzzle, I have some more examples to test your skill against. See the links on my Security Challenges article.



Feedback

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Colin Riddington	Mendip Data Systems	Last Updated 22 Feb 2026

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