Version 1.1           Approx 2.8 MB (zipped)                 First Published 24 Jan 2025


As most developers will be aware, Access has for many years had a maximum width of 22.75 inches (57.79 cm) for all forms and reports. See Access specifications


This restriction dates back to the first version of Access in 1992. The limit is because object dimensions are subject to the integer limit (32767) in twips where 1440 twips = 1 inch.
Therefore 22.75 inches = 22.75 * 1440 = 32,760 twips

At the time, monitors were much smaller than today and the restriction wasn't an issue./span>
However, with the now widespread use of both widescreen and multiple monitors, it has become a significant issue for many users.

Back in October 2024, the Access team announced their development priorities for the first half of 2025.
This included support both for large monitors and elements of responsiveness to match monitor size and resolution. See Microsoft's Plans for Access Oct '24 – March '25

As part of this development work, the integer twips limit for form and report widths will be removed. Very welcome news indeed!

Whilst I’m looking forward to the Access team's work on supporting large monitors, I have known for many years that datasheet forms are not subject to the specified limit. The same is true for split forms which are a clever hybrid based on datasheets.

Although I do not own a widescreen UHD monitor, I can achieve similar results using two 22 inch monitors arranged horizontally giving a total width of about 36 inches (91 cm).
With each monitor set at 1920*1080, this gives an effective resolution of 3840*1080.

As an example, the screenshot below shows a datasheet form with over 2.6 million records and more than 50 fields (some hidden), extended horizontally across both monitors.

Click any of the widescreen images below to open a larger version on a new tab


For more details on this approach, see my article: Extend Access across Multiple Monitors

Until recently, I believed datasheets were the sole exception to the width limit rule. However, fellow Access developer, Mark Curry, from New Zealand contacted me to say that he had discovered accidentally that wasn't the case.

He had found out that modern charts could also be made to fill whatever screen width is available. Mark very kindly explained his approach:

•   Create a blank form in design view. There is no need to change its width or height from the default (12,335cm wide * 10.497cm high). Add a chart so it fills the form design space.


•   In design view, select the chart, then set Anchoring to Stretch Down and Right.


•   Change to Form View and maximize the form if using overlapping windows display. Using tabbed documents that happens automatically
      The form and more importantly its contents fill the available space – in my case approx 36 inches (91cm) wide maximized across two 22 inch monitors side by side.


This output could be very useful in certain situations e.g. for displaying charts with a lot of data (the chart above has 99 columns) or when doing presentations to a group on a large monitor

This functionality is not due to a recent change – the same approach works at least as far back as Access 2010 as well. I expect it will also work in Access 2007.

With further investigation, I have successfully used the same approach with classic charts, image controls, rectangles and both types of web browser control.

For example, this is an image control stretched using anchoring across both monitors


This shows an Edge browser control stretched using anchoring across both monitors. However, in this case the displayed web page is clearly not optimized to fill that width!


It is possible that this approach will work for some ActiveX controls as well (NOT tested).

A similar approach also works with items created using layout guides and stretch down & across anchoring e.g. split form
However, with continuous (or multiple items) forms, Access limits the number of fields to only show those that will fit in the specified maximum width.

In summary although you can’t resize a form manually to exceed the specified width, in some cases anchoring can allow you to bypass that restriction.
Strange how I’ve never heard anyone mention this approach until now – nor did an online search give any instances of this approach.

Many thanks to Mark Curry for sending me (in his words) down this rabbit hole whilst we all wait for the official release of large monitor support for forms and reports!



Download

Click to download an example app with the column chart shown above:   Very Wide Forms      ACCDB file     Approx 2.8 MB (zipped)

As with all files downloaded from the internet, you will need to first Unblock downloaded files by removing the Mark of the Web

Then unzip the file and either make it a trusted document or (preferably) save it in a trusted location



Feedback

Please use the contact form below to let me know whether you found this article interesting/useful or if you have any questions/comments.

Please also consider making a donation towards the costs of maintaining this website. Thank you



Colin Riddington           Mendip Data Systems                 Last Updated 24 Jan 2025

Return to Example Databases Page

Return to Top