First Published 15 Jan 2025

This is a companion to my earlier article: Control the Application Interface which demonstrates how the Access interface can be hidden leaving forms & reports 'floating on the desktop'.

For this to work all forms and reports MUST be popups so they appear independently of the (hidden) Access interface.

The approach works well for any type of form or report and can be used to make Access app look more professional.
It can also help improve security as users cannot access the navigation pane, ribbon, Access options or the Visual Basic editor.

However the approach described in that article requires a lot of APIs to work well and the underlying code can be quite complex, especially for new developers

This article describes a MUCH simpler approach which has much of the same functionality and requires no code

It will work with either overlapping windows or tabbed documents display (with or without tabs). Once again all forms and reports MUST be popups.


The forms can have any border style . . . including none.


The approach REQUIRES that the app is started from a shortcut which is set to run minimized:



Possible Issues:

1.   No other 'standard' Access app can be open at the same time or the Access interface will be displayed.

2.   Clicking the Access icon on the taskbar will restore the application interface. This may cause you problems.


3.   Datasheet forms do not have any controls. These cannot be borderless or you will be unable to close the form.


4.   Opening reports will restore the title bar but not the ribbon. If opened in print preview, users will need to press Ctrl+P to print the report.


      Alternatively, open in report view and add a Print button to the report. However, in report view any colour formatting will be lost.



If these are not major issues for you, then this simpler approach may achieve what you want with far less time and effort.



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Colin Riddington           Mendip Data Systems                 Last Updated 15 Jan 2025

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